Unity
by Duckmouse
Summary: Everything he knew was a lie. The woman he loved laid dead before him. His best friend, too weak to save her. And his teacher, no where to be seen. Yet despite adversity, Obito Uchiha ran away from the arms of a devil and away from the life he once led all the same. He vowed on that night that he would fight for one cause and one cause only - his own. He vowed to change the world.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I: Kyubi

A thick rain fell on the muddied ground. Thunder roared as lightning clashed against the ground and flashed through the dark clouds high above. The storm-riddled night was dreary and exciting all the same. The trees bowed with the howling wind; and as lightning struck a nearby cliff side, rock and stone tumbled down with a fierce avalanche. But there was also an agony about it all, and down in a rolling plane the rain washed away deep puddles of blood.

"Rin!" Obito cried while he held the still body of a brunette woman, whose eyes were snapped wide as the gaping hole struck through her chest. "Rin!" he shouted again. Her eyes, though wide, were dull and lifeless. She was his teammate, his friend, and the love of his life; and she was dead. Just another corpse added to the pile of bodies Obito had personally slaughtered in his rage at Rin's demise. Now it was only him; him and, somewhere lying comatose on the side, another, silver-haired teen who had fallen unconscious several minutes before, and hadn't awoken since.

The lightning flashed once more, and Obito let out a monstrous scream towards the blanketed sky, one of rage and agony. Another flash...

Obito gasped, and pulled himself up off the craggy rock he was using as a pillow. Another nightmare. One of many he had had since that night when the most important person in the world to him was taken from his grasp. It had been two years since that fated day. Now it was October, and a pleasant fall breeze, brisking through the surrounding trees, soothed his nerves and the hot, feverish sweat that had begun to creep down his neck. The bright blue moon was full and large, casting a luminescent light over the forest that revealed naught but several meters in all directions.

"Hallo!"

Obito shouted a shrill gasp, and in an instant clung to a branch hanging over! Standing beneath was a pale white man; who may not have been one, but certainly bore some resemblance. Its skin was knotty like a tree, its face mutated into a spiral reminiscent of a black hole, with a single eye hole visible on the right side of its face. For a short time it still looked were Obito had been, its hand raised in a wave, before it finally looked up with an exclamation of surprise. "Guruguru! You bastard!" Obito snarled with a rapidly beating heart.

"Eh?" said the creature with an air of innocence and ignorance, and it pointed towards itself. "Who, Tobi?" The being's name was Tobi, although Obito took to calling it Guruguru due to the spiral pattern on its face.

"Yes, you!" shouted Obito as he dropped back to the ground. Then, after a breath: "Tonight is very important. You almost gave away our position and ruined our whole plan."

"Tobi understands!" said Tobi with a nod.

"If we are discovered too early we won't be able to catch our opponents off guard. The forces we deal with will not allow us the luxury of underestimating them." Obito continued, oblivious. "You have to be serious at all times, Guruguru!"

"Tobi understands!" Tobi replied again.

"I'm not sure you do..." Obito sighed. "Anyways, this will b-" He blinked, and looked around. Tobi was missing! "Guru?" Suddenly, a chill ran down Obito's spine, and a hand touched his shoulder. And then, in a raspy, spooky whisper:

"Tobi scared you, didn't he?"

"Absolutely not!" Obito yelled angrily as he turned around, to see Tobi standing behind him. "Guru this is serious! My whole plan depends on tonight! If anything goes wrong I'll have to rethink everything. I've waited for this moment too long for that to happen, understand?"

"Hai!" Tobi announced with a raised fist and a cheery voice.

"Excellent." said Obito, and he turned and led them a short ways through the forest. The tree halted at a point, revealing a rocky outcropping; and at the other end it dropped sharply down hundreds of yards. They stood atop a head, sculpted into the side of a mountain, that overlooked the valley below. And there, surrounded by tall, heavily fortified walls, was a city. A city that lived in harmony with the foliage that flanked it on all sides, a city that used that relationship with the woodland to find its name. This was Konohagakure; the village hidden by tree leaves.

It was on this village that Obito and Tobi looked, with one's expression being hidden while the other's was sullen. The distant lights below shone with a radiance so bright that it lit the four faces guarding the mountainside with the light of a fire, symbolic of their titles as the Hokage - The Fire Shadow's. The leaders of Konoha, they had their busts carved into the mountain in honor of them, their power, and their memory.

"Once I wished for my own face to join these." mused Obito with a far-off gaze. "No longer. Come, Guru. It's time to change the world."

"Yay! Tobi's excited!" said the being, and the spirals of his 'flesh' separated and pulled apart, and they surrounded Obito and covered over him like a suit of armor. "Let's go!" shouted the creature; and they leaped off the earthen structure to free-fall down the cliff side, towards the city below.

"Wait! No! Guru! You fool!" Obito barked as he flailed. "We weren't supposed to jump! We were going to use my ability to get in!"

"Wee!" Tobi exclaimed, ignoring Obito outright. And so they fell, for a moment their visage clear as day thanks to the city lights, but soon they were shrouded by darkness as they passed under the shadow of a large, cylindrical, red building that towered over all the others. They landed with a loud thud.

"Guru..." Obito groaned, his face smashed into the ground.

"Tobi's a good boy?" Tobi questioned with a nervous giggle. Obito tenderly pushed himself from the crater they had created with their face. Were it not for the hard shell Tobi had formed around them, Obito would have had more than a broken nose. Their gaze turned sharply to the side, in the direction that three figures approached over the nearby rooftops. "Oh! Tobi sees friends!"

"Not now Guru!" Obito ordered as he rushed into a nearby alley, using its shadow to hide them from the attentions of their pursuers. When the three emerged into the light, Obito grit his teeth. Each of them wore headband wrapped around their foreheads, and at the front marked on a silver plating was a pattern of a single leaf. Shinobi of Konoha; their appearance was no surprise. Shinobi were, after all, the police and army of Konoha.

"Whoa." One exclaimed to the other. "What'd you think made this?"

"Who knows. Had to be something big to have such an impact." The other replied, as he investigated the crater with a tilt of his head. "And... Is that a head imprint?"

"Be on the alert." Another interrupted. "We need to inform the other squads to be on the look out. Whatever this thing was may still be here." And then, after having a short look around, they all left.

"Hmph." Obito grunted. "See, Guru? Now we're going to have to speed things up."

"Tobi's sorry..." Tobi said dejectedly.

"No matter. The objective is still the same. Give me full control." Obito replied. It was Tobi's shell, and so Tobi had most use of their joined body, but Obito could still move somewhat against Tobi. Fortunately, the being was more than willing, nine times out of ten, to lend complete control of their body over to Obito. He flexed their pale hand. There was no more interference. Obito's eye flashed a colorful crimson, with little mutated pupils surrounding the main one. The Sharingan - a special ability belonging to Obito's family, the Uchiha.

Obito's Sharingan gave him a special ability, however, beyond that which most Uchiha had access to. Through the use of an alternate dimension, belonging completely to Obito himself, he was capable of teleporting himself and anyone he touched, through a portal, through that alternate dimension, and into another part of the world. The act took the form of a sort of swirling air surrounding him, like a miniature black hole, and it sucked him in as if he was but a piece of paper.

Then, several seconds later, they reappeared in a dimly lit room. It was quiet and small, a single lamp in the middle on a round table that gave light to the dark grey file cabinets that lined the walls. At the table was a lone man, who reclined in a chair with his legs stretched over the table, and his eyes closed and brow furrowed. Obito absorbed the sleeping shinobi with his technique, his Kamui, to give himself free reign of the room.

Tobi detached from Obito, and reformed as the full creature that it was before. "We are still undetected?" Obito asked as he briskly looked over a short folder left behind by the sleeping man.

"Hai! Tobi thinks they're still perplexed by the wonderful mark your head left!" Tobi replied, ignorant of the tick that appeared on Obito's brow.

"That was your doing!" Obito growled, then with a snort, "Look for anything detailing the locations of Minato's safe houses. The child will be born in one of those."

"Tobi found it!" declared Tobi as it shoved a thin folder at Obito's nose.

"Wha-?" Obito started. Regaining his composure, he quickly snatched the documents from Tobi's hands and flipped through it. Within was a single page, and every word was encoded in a strange gibberish that was completely illegible. "And how, precisely, do you know this is the information we seek?"

"Tobi's gut tells him!" Tobi replied.

"Guru, you don't have a gut." Obito informed.

"Eh? Tobi wants a gut!"

"No, you really don't." Obito stated quickly. "Well, we have the key. We'll find out if this has the safe house's location soon enough." Suddenly there was a crash behind them! They both turned towards the thick door, still closed, and behind it there was a series of mutters and complaints spoken by a man, though details beyond that were scarce. Then all was quiet for several seconds. Eventually the silver doorknob turned and the internal latch clicked, and the door was pushed inwards allowing a man carrying disheveled folders and documents to enter. But by then, Obito and Tobi were already gone.

The dimension that belonged to Obito's eye was vastly different than anything seen in the world they all knew. Within, there was no sun, no moon, no stars. There was no space, there was no grass, nothing living but Obito and those he brought with him resided within. No mountains, no oceans, no dirt to sift their feet within. Rectangular platforms made up what amounted to the landmass, the tops stood on but the bottoms vanished far beneath into a black abyss that even Obito dared not explore.

Laid out on the platform before Obito was the spiky-haired young man he had found at the Anbu's central information library. Still fast asleep, as if he had never awoken. "Wow! Deep sleeper; Tobi wonders how loud we can get before he wakes up!" Tobi wondered, now once more forming a protective shell around Obito.

"Noise will not be our method." Obito stated simply as he stretched a hand over the sleeping man's forehead and, placing his palm just above his eyes, grunted, his Sharingan flaring a bright ember. Immediately the man tensed and tried to sit up, but found himself unable to, and he screamed as pain overwhelmed his mind. With his head firmly clenched in Obito's fingers, the Uchiha made a simple, yet undeniable demand. "Tell me the cipher."

There was much groaning and gasping, and such restrained shouts of agony that Obito nearly feared his victim would grant himself an aneurysm and an early death before he revealed the information Obito sought. "I... I don't know..." he spat with grit teeth.

"Who does, then?" Obito demanded further.

"The... The intelligence filer - he knows."

"And where is he?"

"I was... Waiting for him in... In the file room." Then he gave another agonizing cry, and his arms and legs and neck spasmed and contorted in inhuman ways; and then his eyes rolled back in his skull and he went limp. That was the death of him, one which Obito would not remember. It was just one out of several others, both that had occurred in the past and those that would happen in the future.

"The filer... Guru, find him." Obito said, as he unceremoniously kicked the corpse off the platform, without ever giving it a second thought.

"Tobi found him already!"

"What?" Obito turned sharply at a smash behind him; it was the same one who had almost discovered their presence by barging in on them, and only failed in doing so because of the unintended distraction the dropping of his folders had afforded. "Hm. Well, let's see what you know."

The interrogation went on for several minutes, as Obito peeled the information from the man's mind itself; his screams, however, were never heard by anyone on the outside world, and he would never be seen again. Meanwhile, on the other side of Konoha, another event of less diabolical form was developing. And the shouts there were not of pain, but of a severe dislike of a baby no longer being within his mother's womb.

"I'm... A father!" Cried a clear-skinned man with long, blond hair. Tears of joy fled from his eyes and descended his cheeks as he looked down on a sniffling little baby who, even now, bore a great resemblance to himself. Holding the baby, with her nose to his, was an exhausted woman with long, dark red hair. Minato the father, Kushina the mother, and Naruto the son. Biwako Sarutobi, who was the wife of the retired Third Hokage, had never seen a more perfectly happy family. But then almost immediately, it was interrupted when Minato resumed a far more serious role. "Okay. Now to strengthen the seal."

The seal. Kushina was, as were at least eight other people in the world, the holders of one of nine terrible beasts. These were ancient demons, each called by the number of tails they possessed, and each were sealed long ago into individuals across the world. It had been said that the more tails the demons had, the stronger they were. No one knew for sure if that was true, but the Kyubi who resided within Kushina was a powerful being indeed. It was the ninth, having nine tails, and bore the appearance of a massive fox.

Now, the seal which held the Kyubi at bay was weakened, weakened by child birth, and the fox wanted to be free. There was no time to waist. Biwako immediately grabbed up Naruto and, alongside the other nurse, took the baby to safety while Minato worked. He was not only a powerful shinobi, but he was also the Fourth Hokage; and knew seals better than anyone. It fell to him to ensure the demon didn't break free.

Kushina gave her approval, and Minato took a breath; but then something terrible happened. Biwako and the other nurse, they were hit from behind; non-fatally, a simple chop against the collar, rendering them both unconscious.

"What?" Minato gasped as he looked on the intruder's appearance; not failing to realize that he held Naruto in his hand. He wore a thick, black cloak with long, baggy sleeves, and a orange mask that had but one eye hole; within which nothing could be seen. "Who are you?"

"That doesn't matter." Obito answered. He revealed a dagger in his free hand. "You will step away from the Jinchuriki, Yondaime. If you do not, your child will die. Far too early an end, wouldn't you say?"

"Naruto!" Kushina shouted; her outburst caused the baby to cry even more. And then she gasped, and a big black bulge formed on her stomach and grew, as writing in ink appeared all around her; the seal was weakening, and the fox was threatening to break loose! All the while, Obito waited patiently for Minato's answer. The sharp edge moved, achingly slow, towards the child's neck.

"Let's not do anything hasty!" Minato pleaded, worry etching its way over his normal poise.

"I'm not the one who needs to worry about being hasty." Obito countered. He tossed Naruto up into the air, and then leaped after him, fully prepared to dig the blade into the innocent boy's back and put an end to his crying. But before Obito could reach, Minato vanished, along with Naruto, and they both reappeared on the far wall with Minato cradling the child. Naruto's tears ceased, which for a mere moment gave Minato pause, but quickly he looked over his shoulder to get a view on the masked man.

"Impressive." said Obito. "Your speed is to be respected, Minato. Fortunately, killing Naruto was not part of my objective." Minato gasped, realizing too late that Obito stood right next to Kushina. He had done exactly as Obito had originally instructed; he left Kushina's side. Obito placed a hand on Kushina, who flinched away from him to no avail, and to Minato's horror they both were sucked into a sort of vortex that he had never before seen. They were gone. Minato grimaced and looked down at Naruto, who began to show signs of shedding further tears.

"Don't worry, Naruto. I'll get her back." He told the baby. He dropped down to the floor, just in time for Biwako to groan and raise herself up off the floor. "I need you to look after Naruto." He said quickly, handing a stunned Biwako the child. "Keep him safe. I'll deal with that masked man."

Meanwhile,

Obito and Kushina reappeared, with Obito standing on the mainland, and Kushina collapsed to her knees on a thin little island in the middle of a lake. It was surrounded by large standing stones, that towered above. "This will suffice. Your husband will find us soon, so I suppose I should hurry." At a mere motion of his hand, writing appeared all along the stones and stretched down to Kushina, and bound her by the arms. "I'm afraid this is going to hurt."

"What do you want?" Kushina demanded, with a defiant glimmer in her eyes. "No one can control the Kyubi! If you release him you'll be killed!"

"No one can control him?" Obito repeated. It was a rhetorical question. "Perhaps, no one of normal means. But I believe I am not remiss in saying an Uchiha has been able to take command of the demon." Kushina gasped. Even while the pain intensified and the bulge expanded further, she understood. "I, having the powers of the Uchiha, should have no trouble making the beast kneel. But don't worry, Kushina. Your death, and the death of Minato, are not part of my plan. I have no want to kill you. On the contrary, I want you to see the world I have envisioned. Now, about releasing the Kyubi..."

Kushina let loose a cry, one that was drowned out by a ferocious roar. And then there was an explosion of epic proportions, one made not of fire but of smoke, and the shock wave could be felt for miles away. When the blast cleared, a beast so massive that it dwarfed nearby mountains stood. It was a fox, with burnt orange fur. It's rage-filled eyes were red and slanted, and its teeth were bared, and nine giant tails flicked and wagged this way and that in sporadic, angry patterns. Kushina fell on the stone, sweaty and in great pain.

"The Uzumaki clan is gifted with among the strongest wills in the entire world. Most would have been killed instantly. Fortunately, that isn't the case, making this beast's extraction bloodless." Obito explained as he turned to walk away. The Kyubi breathed heavily, and its slanted eye had morphed into an exact replica of Obito's Sharingan. Then, Obito stopped, still facing away from Kushina. "I used a special seal, combined with my own power, to release the Kyubi. Painful, yes, but it had only a minimal effect on Kushina's chakra network. So long as she is given proper medical attention, she will survive. I advise you to take that into consideration before you attempt to stop me, Minato."

Minato growled. He had appeared suddenly, just as Obito turned to leave, and had a triple-tipped dagger held in his hand. Then, Kushina groaned from behind him. "Kushina!" He called, turning and lifting her up into his arms. "Hang in there. I'll get you to Biwako, she can take care of you."

"The... The village..." She grunted, breathing uncontrollably in exhaustion and agony. Obito chuckled as Minato, with Kushina in his arms, vanished in an instant. They appeared in a brightly lit room, where off to the side little Naruto laid in a crib sucking his thumb and sniffling, and Biwako turned with a gasp.

"Minato! Kushina! What happened?" Biwako demanded, calling for several nurses to pull a table over.

"The Kyubi has been released! Kushina needs help, now!" Minato told them.

"What?" Biwako gasped, "Minato, it's impossible! If a Jinchuriki has her tailed beast extracted it's a death sentence!"

"I know... I know that. That masked man... He said he released the Kyubi in a way that doesn't destroy the chakra network." Minato explained. "We can't believe him. But I can sense her chakra. It's weak, but it's not draining. There's still a chance."

"Healing her from this is beyond my ability..." Biwako admitted hesitantly.

"Then call her." Minato ordered. Then, he grasped Kushina's hand tightly within his, placing a kiss on her pale forehead. "Don't worry. I'll protect everyone. That's the Hokage's job, after all." he said, and then vanished away.

"Minato..." Kushina uttered faintly under the nurses' watch.

Biwako didn't waste any time. "Call her here, now!" She shouted, and a nurse rushed off to do just that. Biwako bent over Kushina and, with her hands glowing a dark greenish aura, she hovered over Kushina's forehead and stomach where most of the damage lay. "This... Is amazing. I didn't think it was possible."

"What is it?" Asked another nurse who brought forward a bucket of warm water and several rags.

"It's just as Minato said. Her network is virtually undamaged. Whatever method that masked fellow used, it wasn't intended to kill her. It seems as if it was just the opposite. All the points where her chakra fused with the Kyubi's, they have been carefully separated and reconnected with her own network." Biwako explained in pure amazement. "This level of control; I'm not sure even Minato is capable of it. Maybe with his Flying Thunder God, but even that would leave severed chakra nodes. Whoever that man is, he's either a genius or has one powerful Kekkei Genkai."

When Minato returned to the scene where Obito had removed the Fox, having placed a marker for his technique there before, there was neither masked man nor Kyubi; although the signs of them being there were still readily visible once observing the smashed trees and large, claw shaped marks found dug into the dirt. The carnage created by the Kyubi's massive tails, was like that of a hurricane or tornado thrashing through; it might as well have been worse. But all the same, there was no sign of them there.

"The village." Minato told himself. "I need to make sure it's not under atta-" Suddenly, there was an explosion. One just as massive as when the Kyubi had been released from Kushina, and with just as impressive of a shockwave. In shock, Minato turned the direction of the village; and just as he knew, there stood the Kyubi angrily beating down on the until recently unsuspecting citizens of Konoha.

Minato teleported once more, and this time he stood atop his own visage on the monument of the Hokage. The sight before him, it left him lost for words. Already fires had surfaced; shinobi left and right were being brushed aside by the Fox's brutal force! The gates had been useless, the beast was summoned right in the middle of the village.

Then, to his surprise, the Fox turned to him with a horrible growl. "That was quick."

The beast's fanged maw opened, and a large, purplish bubble formed in front of it. The ball grew and grew, with little red and blue orbs rotating around it like little planets around a black sun. It was an attack famed out of lore - the Bijudama, Tailed Beast Ball. An attack that could form or destroy mountains, landmasses, entire oceans in the span of a few passing seconds. With a pulse of its neck, the Kyubi sent the ball flying directly at Minato.

And then it vanished.

A distance away, an explosion resonated high and wide, out of the sight of Konoha; but they all felt the blast. Now they all knew who stood atop the monument. They all knew their Hokage had joined the fight. In the few seconds that the Kyubi had formed the ball, Minato had used a technique of his own. To rip the ball from one plane and place it in another; essentially, another form of his Flying Thunder God. Minato leaped and, after a series of teleportations aided by his special kunai marked with the writing that allowed his technique, appeared above the Kyubi.

He landed on the Kyubi and immediately smashed his palm down on its fur, and from the impact emerged an expanding gauntlet of writing. It stretched all the way around the Fox, until its back, neck, head, paws, and tails were all covered over with it like a long strand of rope. The Minato fell to the surface, and once more placed his palm in front of him; from this came another series of lines, which formed a circle around the Kyubi and linked with the other lines, which stretched out to meet this new one. Panting, Minato said "This won't hold him for long. We need something to seal him in, now!"

"A new Jinchuriki." Replied an old man, in black armor that seemed similar to that of a Samurai. His name was Hiruzen Sarutobi. Biwako's husband, the Third Hokage, who himself was sometimes referred to as a god. "Nothing else is strong enough to hold the Kyubi. If we attempted to seal him in an object, he would simply break free. We require someone with strength of will to hold it."

"We can't reseal it in Kuchina. That would kill her. But who...?" Minato started, when a voice interrupted them both.

"Perhaps I can offer a suggestion?"

Minato and Hiruzen, and all the surrounding shinobi who had formed together to defend their village against the demon's onslaught, watched on in equal measure of shock, horror, and, for some, admiration, as the Kyubi was literally sucked down as if absorbed into the vacuum of space itself. It roared and scratched at the ground, grasped at buildings that crumbled under its strength, in a vain attempt at preventing itself from falling into the portal. And with one final roar, it vanished entirely.

"No..." Minato whimpered. There at the point, stood the masked man; and in his arms was a still, and quiet, Naruto. It was plain to see the markings that had engulfed the child's stomach; a new seal. Yet Naruto made no sound, and lay perfectly still. "What have you done?" Minato demanded as his eyes flashed with a rage and fury uncommon of him.

"You need to take your own advice, Minato. Don't do anything hasty." Obito calmly taunted. He looked down at the baby in his arms, as the markings gradually shrunk down and faded until they could no longer be seen. Finally, once they had disappeared, Naruto coughed, and began crying and squirming once more. "The sealing is complete. Congratulations, Minato. Your son is now the new Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox."

Obito revealed a kunai, and held it close to Naruto just as he had done before. "Now, I'm afraid I must make my leave. We will meet again."

"Wait!" Minato called as he rushed forward, but it was too late. Obito, with Naruto in tow, disappeared within the vortex with which he teleported himself. Teeth grit, and to the surprise of everyone around, Minato vanished. He reappeared some distance from Konoha, and immediately upon arriving he looked in all directions. Until, finally, he noticed the cloth at his feet. The cloth that Naruto had been wrapped in. On that cloth was his mark, the mark he had put on Naruto to get to him at a moment's notice. And that cloth had been removed. "Naruto." Minato whispered, his heart beat increasing.

"Naruto!" He called again, met only with quiet. His breath caught in his throat, and he collapsed to his knees, reaching down and grasping the little wrap tightly between his fingers. "No... Naruto."

"Um, Obito?" Tobi poked at Obito persistently, within the dimension of Obito's eye. "You want a baby to help you change the world? I really think you've finally gone insane. Maybe we should get you to a doctor! You could DIE!"

"You're the insane one!" Obito snapped. Still held in his arms was the naked Naruto. "Naruto is just the beginning of my plan. A very important piece on my chessboard. When all the pieces are in place, my plan will begin. The world will know peace at last."

"But," Tobi pressed "he's just a baby."

"I know that!" Obito answered, annoyed. "But soon he'll be older, and he will be able to undergo training as a shinobi."

"...How long will that take?" Tobi asked.

"Several years, Guru."

"Tobi understands!" Tobi said, placing a fist on his palm as if some great discovery had been made. But then his shoulders slouched, his head dipped forward, and his posture bent.

"How long is that?"

Minato rushed down the halls of the safehouse he had left Kushina at. His cheeks were scarred by the tears he had shed; those not of joy, as they had been barely an hour before when his wife gave birth to their son, but tears of sadness and pain. He was exhausted, the strain of using so many high level seals had done its work, especially when he restrained the Kyubi to the ground. But all the same, he pushed his legs to keep moving. Finally, he reached an area watched by two Anbu guards.

"Kushina! How is she?" Minato asked. The guards looked at each other hesitantly, before the one on the right answered.

"She's still undergoing surgery. As of fifteen minutes ago, her condition was still critical." He said in as even a voice as he could muster. "But, sir, there was an intrusion and..."

"I already know." Minato interrupted shakily, glancing down at the brown garments he still clenched. Once more the guards looked at each other, and the other chose to speak on this occasion.

Hesitantly, carefully, and even a little fearfully, "You don't mean he was...?"

"Taken. The Third is organizing search parties, but..." Minato's voice caught, and he trailed off as an obvious sting overtook his eyes. The Anbu remained quiet after that. For a while, Minato remained still in front of the closed doors that the Anbu guarded. But then, several minutes into the waiting, he took to pacing up and down the halls. This served not to sate his nerves, but to make them worse. His breathing intensified, his heart rate increased. Finally, he whispered softly, "Please... Please, Kami. Don't take this from me, too."

And then the doors opened. Minato and the two guards swung around and stared intently at Biwako, who stood in the doorway and wiped away a trail of sweat with a thick, white cloth. Breathlessly, she eyed Minato, and then turned and motioned for him to enter. This he did quickly, immediately placing his eyes on Kushina; and his heart nearly burst from his chest at what he saw. She lay, pale as a ghost, eyes closed and mouth hung open. "No..." He whispered. But then his eyes turned to her stomach, and to his great joy he could see it steadily rising and falling.

"It was close." Biwako informed him. "Several times we thought we'd lose her. Even with the low damage to her network, the pain of child birth and having the Kyubi taken from her was almost too much for her system to handle. That and after that monster came in and took Naruto, she went into shock all over again."

"But she's alive." Minato replied, by her side and grasping her hand softly.

"Minato...?" Kushina quietly whispered. Minato swallowed hard, but forced a smile.

"The village is safe." Minato said quickly, in an effort to calm the worry evident on her tired features. "We lost a lot of good men and women, and several buildings were destroyed, but we can recover. It's over."

"What about Naruto?" She pleaded. Biwako stepped away, leaving all except one nurse to monitor the recovering woman's vital signs to ensure no sort of relapse would happen. Minato's smile dropped, and he looked to the side as he fought back tears. "Minato." Kushina pushed, giving her husband a stern look in the eye. "Where is Naruto?"

"I... He's... Gone." Minato struggled to say, and had to fight back even harder when he saw the horrified expression that filled Kushina's eyes.

"He's dea-?"

"No!" Minato interrupted, quickly. "No, he's alive. He... He was taken by that masked man, but he's alive. But, also, he... He's now the Jinchuriki for the Kyubi; the intruder's doing also." Minato explained as best he could. His voice was strained, still he waged a vicious war against himself as the emotional and logical sides vied for control. It finally became apparent which side won, when the tears finally streamed down his face. Only this time, it was tears both of sorrow, but also joy. Joy that, at least, his wife still lived. "Kushina. I'm so sorry. But I will find him. I give you my word."

"No." Kushina replied. Minato's breath hitched and his mouth hung open. But Kushina gave him a weak smile, which allayed his fears. "Not without me you won't." Kushina's eyes drifted shut then, and she softly laid back on the soft pillow underneath her. Minato looked nervously at the nurse, but she merely smiled at him.

"Well, you two really gave us a scare!" Interrupted a woman's voice from the doorway. Minato took a breath, no longer forcing his tears back, but still managing some amount of control over his lungs. The woman, who had bob-cut brown hair and brown eyes, and wore a thick white doctor's coat with rolled up sleeves, smiled at the two. "I thought it was the student's job to worry the sensei?" She asked lightheartedly as she scratched at the purple marking on her cheek.

"Maybe, but the roles were reversed today." Minato replied. "Thank you, Rin."


	2. Chapter 2

Amidamaru88 - Thanks for the Review, and the advice! I can see how I was lacking on the character reaction descriptions. Writing the chapter in roughly two nights, I rushed through most of it. I'll work on being more flexible with informing who's speaking. For the things that appeared in last chapter, I have basic explanations for; prone to change as the story evolves. The same goes for an overall idea for the story, even though I do have an endgame that I know I want to get to.

TableTop - Thanks for the Review! I'll do my best to keep at it.

Ripper1337 - Can't say whether or not it'll stay unique because I haven't read any other fan-fictions. Sorry if it doesn't, but at least it'll be unique by ignorance until someone tells me it's a rip-off!

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><p><em>"So you've returned." Observed a decrepit old man with long, sickly white hair. Two dull, beady eyes stared up at an entrance where once there was a solid wall, cracked and broken stones piled up along the ground. He leaned against a thin walking stick, and black pulsating vines connected into his back from a deathly tree core behind him.<em>

_"She's dead." Explained a man wrapped up in swirling vines. Shortly the mask pulled away as Tobi reformed beside him, revealing a heavily despondent Obito, dried tears stained under his eyes and over his cheeks. "Rin's dead."_

_"I warned you that you would return." Came his raspy reply, accompanied by narrowed eyes and knitted brow. "You were a fool to have left. Now you are broken, lifeless." Obito stepped down from the breakage in the wall, off the lip of rock that hadn't been destroyed and onto the cold stone of the cavern. His shoulders were stiff and his neck craned, and all of his being screamed a persistent ache, and horror of what had transpired, and of a want to erase it. All this, illuminated only by the moon's light piercing through the hole that had been created, in the otherwise sightless cave. "Now what remains? What do you seek?"_

_Obito still walked forward, soon standing before the old man without a word. And he fell to his knees, and leaned knuckles pressed hard against the floor. With tears seeping from his eyes and falling, splashing, on the stone, Obito, in a shaky, weak voice, "Please. I'll do whatever you wish. Just help me bring her back."_

_And Madara Uchiha smiled a grim, deceptive smile._

* * *

><p>Chapter II<p>

Ichibi

A panicked squealing overtook the cheerful chirping of nearby, blue-coated birds. It was a wild boar, merely four feet tall while on all four hooves but bulky and strong nonetheless. Its powerful arms stomped down on the tall, patchy grass, two large horns protruding from its jaw brushed aside the jagged thorns of the grass's blades. It ran, across a wide field, towards a steep cliff that dropped off an up-rise and down to a continuation of the field beyond. The beast grunted, pushing off its back legs and stretching out its fronts, reaching for the safety of the tall grass below.

When the sharp edge of a blade stabbed right into its back left thigh, it howled angrily and painfully, and although it maintained its path until landing, upon doing so it fell to its side and slid. No sooner had another second passed when its pained squeals were put to an end, its throat rendered useless by a single, deep gash. The knife was pulled loose of the carcass, once there was no doubt that the boar was dead, and its owner brushed off the dark red blood as best he could on a nearby tuft of conjoined grass.

He was a child, six years of age, barely able to lift his head over of the towering weeds. A dark green jacket, and matching pants to boot, covered his body, and his face was hidden behind a hood over his hair and mask that stretched up to his ocean blue eyes. Camouflaged against the wildlife, when held still it would be difficult for all but the most observant to pick him out among the grass.

"Good. You're learning quickly." Obito told him as he appeared through the grass, guarded by his traditional orange mask and thick, black cloak. "Never attack your enemy head on, but aim to defeat them from hiding. Noise is your ally, strike where it is most prevalent. Always kill your enemy quickly. Do not assume they are defeated simply because they are wounded. Never give them a chance to counter."

After placing the dagger in a small, grey pouch on his right thigh, the boy pulled down the cloth over his mouth, revealing underneath a round-chinned face with unusual, symmetric whisker-marks, three for each side, on his cheeks. "Yes, sir." He said with a smile, evidently pleased with Obito's praise. Naruto removed the overhanging hood, blond hair once hidden underneath now revealed. Obito crouched next to the slain beast, and dragged a gloved hand over the wound.

"A solid cut to the jugular vein and carotid artery. Messy, but effective." Despite the blood now stained on his garment, Obito did not move to remove it. "A fast death is always preferable over a slow one. If your opponent lives longer than necessary, it potentially threatens your safety, and prevents you from continuing on to further targets. Always ensure your foes are finished off properly." He placed his unbloodied hand on Naruto's head and bent down to a knee, looking the child directly in the eyes. "Behave as you did just now, and you will be a splendid Shinobi in the future."

"Oh, pork! Tobi loves pork!" Exclaimed the creature excitedly. He stood over the boar with his hands clasped together and raised, and he danced by bouncing from one foot to the other.

"You don't have a mouth to eat it with, Guru." Exacerbation and annoyance filled his muffled voice, and a hand clasped against the upper rim of his mask. Tobi made a surprised exclamation and tapped at his face, where his missing mouth would have been, with a grunt with each touch as if trying to poke a hole.

"But if he doesn't have a mouth," Naruto interrupted with a curious frown and a tilt of his head, "then how does he speak?" A moment of silence permeated the space between them, as they both stared intently at the humanoid creature without lips, tongue, or gums.

"Well that," Started the masked man in astonishment, cut off in between by his own ignorance to the answer. He scratched through the charcoal hair on the back of his head. "That is a very good question." Tobi paused his pecking once it became apparent that he was being stared at and returned their gaze with a blank one of his own. By then the stink of the boar's crimson blood had begun to fill their senses, a stinking reminder of what they stood over. "That is another mystery for another time. A meal is well deserved, however, and this animal will serve no better purpose."

An hour or more later, they all sat around a sizzling fire from four thick logs, flanked on all sides by tightly wrapped wire and dirt, once grass that had since been tediously and carefully scraped away. The sun had shrunk down in the west and the sky darkened, but still the flame was not strong enough to cast any large glow on their persons, and only a thin, snaking smokestack floated up from the center. The slain beast had been gutted, blood and bone and organ removed leaving naught but an hollow husk remaining, and its skin and hair had been carved away.

"Thank you for the meal!" Said Naruto with an uncovered burp and a broad grin as he sat, legs crisscrossed and leaning back on his palms, swaying a little in a pleased manner. His relaxation, whatever of it he may get, was suddenly and rudely interrupted once a long, yet not especially thick, scroll of brown paper and rims was tossed into his lap. He gasped, pushed his palms, leaned forward, and caught the scroll at only its second bounce; it having rebounded upon connection with Naruto's stomach. "Studying?" He whined, eyebrows raised, in the vain hope that it wouldn't be so.

"More or less." Obito chuckled, motioning with a hand for Naruto to open it up. This the boy did, carefully avoiding the fire as he spread it out over his lap. On it was a localized map, showing a large span of territory but centered on them. "This, is where we are." He said with a finger on a span of territory marked down as the Land of Grass. Then, he dragged his hand over to a far larger area. "To the east, the Land of Fire. West and southwest is the Land of Rain, and to the north is the Land of Earth."

Naruto briskly nodded. "Our destination is the Land of Wind, beyond the Land of Rain." Obito continued, with his finger now over a massive space that encompassed the entirety of the southwest corner of the map. "To get there, we will take a northern route through the southern border of the Land of Earth, follow it west and then south, through the Land of Stone, and finally down to Sunagakure."

"What? Why don't we just cut through Rain?" Asked the boy as he swiped a straight line across the country. "That'd be faster."

"Faster is not always the better option." He replied, bringing his finger to rest over the city of Amegakure. "Currently, there is a rebellion underway in the city and around it. We would unavoidably be drawn into it. In that case our arrival would be delayed, and in turn our 'straight path' would be turned into just the opposite. A northern path avoids that outcome, and so it is that path we will take."

"And also!" Tobi suddenly popped up between them, and shoved his hand at the map. "There's a dumpling stand there! Tobi LOVES dumplings!" Then there was a rip. A long, drawn out rip like a fingernail over chalk. "Eh?" When he attempted to pull his hand back the map came with it, hooked to his wrist by a fist sized hole right through the middle. Suddenly, he let out a scream! "Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" And he ran around the fire flapping the map around like a madman. Within seconds the scroll had been torn to tatters, nothing left but a few large scraps.

Naruto laughed openly and loudly, and fell on his back and rocked back and forth. "Guru..." Obito growled, head hung low and shoulders slumped, his clenched fists trembling.

The creature giggled uneasily. "Tobi's a good boy?"

"Why can't you just use that weird power of yours to teleport us there?" Naruto finally asked Obito with a sigh, after several minutes had flown by. He took the scrap leftover from the boar and tossed it into the grass, where it would soon be devoured by hungry animals and circling vultures.

"I could do that easily." He replied. "And one day I will. But you cannot rely on my power alone. You must learn to get to your destination by conventional means." Naruto overturned the scorched logs, separated them so as to prevent them from catching fire once more in case of a strong wind, and stamped out a little spark that flickered on a twig. "Anyways, see you there!"

"What?" Naruto sharply turned around on his heel, but Obito was gone before he ever started. "Oh come on!" Naruto huffed, and he turned to leave the temporary camp after it was clear Obito would not be returning, only to come face-to-face with Tobi. "Guess it's just you and me?" He offered with a lopsided smile.

"Tobi gets dumplings now?"

With a heavy sigh, Naruto pulled his hood back over his head. "We'll stop if we pass one."

* * *

><p>Just as Obito had instructed they traveled north, without the aid of their map or any direction. Out of the tall grass and into pastureland, with rolling hills, sporadic settlements, and worn roads unused by civilization for years in exchange for straighter, newer, wider pathways. The Land of Earth was not difficult to spot; over a hill they saw the towering forest of rocks. Their bottoms were hidden by an ocean of green, bushy trees, but their tops pointed like daggers towards the blue and white sky, and they grew in width and height the farther in you went.<p>

"That's it! That's it!" Tobi had announced as he bounced up and down and pointed at the landscape. "Earth Land where the Fairies are!"

Disregarding his decreasing sanity, or rather his ability to advertise his lack of one, the two continued west, following along a point where grass gradually dampened and in the distance disappeared entirely, where rain fell to no end. That area they especially avoided, and instead moved around it. It was not long of a trek before they entered the Land of Stone, where the terrain was built of stone platforms lined like wave-torn coral. There were temples here and there, to different gods, all built in a similar squared design with the bottoms being larger than the tops.

Further in it was more and more apparent that the land was devoid of most creature-comforts, so much so that most animals sans those few birds that flew above and the fish that flopped over the occasional stream were altogether gone. Whatever those living in this land received their meals from, it was not the wildlife.

Some time into their wanderings, they came across a small village wedged between two particularly large stone cliffs of the aforementioned design. A sloping walkway led down into the precarious valley. Here there were numerous people of dress familiar to nomads, and they pulled large, rolling carts filled with various knickknacks into and out of the village.

By then time of their arrival it was once more late in the day. The danger of continuing on in that wasteland, where even a misstep could lead to a crippling fall, was too much to risk. They descended down the stairway promptly, steps carved into the stone alongside a smoothed surface next to it, where the carts were pulled up or rolled down.

The village was small, and did not extend far beyond what they had seen before entering, but on both sides were caves that stretched far under the outcrop, until it became so black within that light was no longer attainable. From these caves, extending from one into another, was a flowing river that the village was built over, and fish were plentiful in it. "Where is this?" Naruto asked wondrously as he scanned the rooftops. Although Tobi still wore the same over-sized cloak from before, Naruto had at one point changed from his camouflaged garments into all-black pants and jacket, with a mesh undershirt being hidden by the latter.

"Dumplings!" No sooner had he said the word then Tobi had already charged to a quaint little stand and ordered multiple servings of the traveler's delicacy.

"A third one?" The boy gaped, bringing a hand to rest on the nearly empty pouch in his pocket that once was filled with Ryo. Innocently whistling an erratic tune with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, Naruto walked away as quick as his feet would move. "Sorry Guru!" He murmured quietly with a sheepish smile.

It was dark sooner than had been expected. With the sun falling lower and lower, shadows lengthened, and there in that valley village where the high walls of the landscape rose above the buildings themselves, night was upon them in minutes. The darkness cast by those stone mountains covered over the city, the oddity of it all being that the sky remained a rich orange while the town itself seemed black like midnight.

And in this light it was that the populace of the village immediately ceased their action, whatever it may have been, and headed for their homes with haste. Such speed it was in that within seconds the once mildly bustling street was now vacant except for Naruto who stood between the river and a row of buildings separated by black alleys. Naruto took a step, and turned around, watching the street, the corners, everything. "What's going on..."

"HALLO!"

"Son of a fox!" He leaped double his height into the air, landed, twisted around and already had a kunai drawn before he laid eyes on the one who had surprised him. "Guru!" Growled the startled boy in several deep, teeth grit breaths. Tobi had also jumped, backwards away from the blond, and had his back against the wall of a building and arms spread.

"Naruto scared Tobi." Explained the creature quietly, and Naruto immediately tensed and bared his teeth, and opened his mouth to speak. But something held him at pause, and his wide eyes grew larger still, before he swiveled his head to the side and stared off at the cavern.

"Sh!" Naruto whispered, ears perked. There was a faint growl and the echoing patter of clawed feet scraping across the ground. Glowing, green eyes peered out at them from the alleys, and a terrible chittering overwhelmed the soft draining of the water nearby. Then, one emerged. Bloodshot eyes, ragged hair, a thin, flicking tail. A rat, with two sharp teeth sticking over its bottom jaw. There was one, two, three... More and more piled out of the alleys. What's more, their size was comparable to sheep; but these were much faster! "Giant... Rats."

They swarmed without a second warning. Naruto reacted quickly, immediately dashing for the nearest building. Without waiting another second he ran up, sticking to the building-side by his feet without need of anchor or rope. Safe from the madly thrashing rodents he climbed, but stopped once screaming reached his ears. Naruto turned back and immediately saw Tobi, surrounded on all sides and having his feet chewed on, and flailing like mad. "Help me!" He cried, although his tone was no different than when he was excited about something or other.

Naruto grit his teeth hard and growled deep and low, and with a single shove he flew off the building and back down to the horde of rats below. Those that weren't crowded around Tobi were scurrying this way and that, digging their thin, sickly noses into anything they could. He landed harshly on the back of one, his weight not enough to break its back but sufficient to cause it to bend. On reaction alone the monster reared around and shook, and Naruto chose then to leave, hitting the ground with a roll.

Once stabilized on a knee, Naruto threw a single, well-placed dagger right into the swarm huddled around a still screaming Tobi's body. Whisking through like a gust of air the pointed tip found its mark, and dug deep into the hideous maw of one of the creatures that bit down on Tobi's foot. It screeched, one that sent shivers down Naruto's spine, and rose up on its hind-legs as a purplish ooze drained out of the wound.

One leg now freed, Tobi ran up the building side still screaming, his arms dangling behind him limply. Naruto likewise ascended the structure, far less noisily than his travelling partner. Three steps up however and his fourth was caught before he could make it. Naruto looked back mid-step and grabbed hold of the ledge below the window above, once he felt a tug at his black pant leg, more akin to an anvil tied to his ankle, and saw that the cloth was caught by the fangs of one of the savages. Not taking for granted the fortune that by some odds his leg had been missed, Naruto dropped another blade down on top of it, and in its pain it fell to the floor.

Climbing the rest of the distance on all fours, chakra attaching him to the hard stone the wall was constructed of, Naruto let out a tired grunt as he reached up, grasped the overhanging ledge of the rooftop, and finally pulled himself over. Finally, he rolled over the top and laid on his back, taking deep, heavy breathes and rubbing at his aching thighs.

The ground below had become like a rampaging sea, with the rats all rushing around and climbing over each other when there was no room to get around. "That's why everyone left. That was crazy." Tobi replied words that Naruto didn't hear, coming across as muffled and faded. Staring at the silhouettes cast by the upper arc of the moon, against the wavy pattern etched into the stone canopy above, Naruto's vision waned. Soon after, he snored peacefully; all while Tobi stared fearfully over the edge.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke abruptly, to a sight that did not match the one he fell asleep to. Upon opening his eyes the first thing that came to note was that, rather than the naturally formed ceiling of stone, he stared up at a bright blue, clear sky. And it was hot; the rays of the sun, which shone brightly overhead, felt like a furnace's heat on his exposed face. A disturbed and curious frown on his face, he pushed himself over and onto his hands and knees, touching the warm but not unbearably hot clay which the rooftop was made of.<p>

"Where...?"

"Sunagakure." Naruto gasped and faced the owner of the voice. Obito sat on a crate backed up against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, and his bright orange mask still hiding his face. He leaned against the wall and, although you couldn't see his eyes, it was plain to see that he observed Naruto quietly. The boy stood and gazed over the steaming metal railing that guarded the side. Over the edge were brownish-colored buildings with circle frames, like the tiers of a snowman starting off large and fat at the bottom but gradually growing thinner towards the top.

Beyond, a wall made of solid rock shot up over the buildings, a natural wall against the harsh desert wind. The desert. That of course was why it was so hot, even though it was only the middle of February. Naruto turned away from the railing, faced Obito with a breathless, wondering gaze. "When? H-how?"

"How should be obvious." He replied slowly, bringing a hand to tap just next to his eye hole. "As for when, I found you early this morning. You would not have been able to cross the dunes alone, so I retrieved you and Guru."

"That's me!" Tobi announced as he popped up over the rooftop's ledge, a single stick of dumplings clasped between his fingers.

"Wha-" Naruto gasped as he eyed the pastry, although he quickly followed with a disbelieving shake of his head. "Okay, so now that we're here, why?" He turned away from the mildly insane creature to once more face Obito, who still watched him unblinkingly. "You didn't tell me why."

There was a moment's pause before the masked-man replied, and when he did it was in such a low voice that he could barely be heard at all. "I have... Business." He said, standing. "There's someone I need to see here."

"Who?"

Obito chuckled, stepped over and placing a hand on Naruto's head. "You'll meet him eventually. All you need to know for now is that he is very important." Naruto frowned deeply, clearly frustrated. Another moment and Obito sighed faintly, walking away from the disappointed blond. "Now that you've asked the five W's and an H, perhaps you should explore the village some. Get acquainted with the culture." Tobi, who had either somehow ingested or otherwise discarded the dumplings, split open and wrapped itself around Obito, and once they had become like one being he teleported himself away, leaving just Naruto on the rooftop.

His way off the building top was not at convenient as Obito's was. While his mentor warped himself away, using the awesome power of his eye, Naruto was not gifted with the Sharingan or any power that granted him a similar trait, thus he had to resort to more conventional means just as Obito had said he would; in this case it was the stairs. Walking down the side of the building, while something he was more than capable of doing, would attract far too much attention to himself, and would earn him a scolding from Obito afterwards.

So down the internal steps he walked, with no where to go and no present need to do anything. Left alone to his own devices, after he had explored some he quickly would have become bored, and idled himself away skipping stones against some sturdy wall. In this instance however, his choice was made for him.

The city was a maze of the very same buildings described above, with a maze of streets and walkways between them. It was a long walk from one end to the other; fortunately the boy never had to see all the sights, as he was distracted before he could ever attempt to get that far. He happened across a little dingy playground, with no more than a rusty, old, two-seated swing set and the sandbox it stood in.

Next to it were a group of children, who tossed a head-sized green and white ball back and forth between them. Naruto, after a pause, made to approach them; but before he could one of the boys missed grabbing their toy and it flew over his head, rolling to a stop at the feet of a short, red-headed child with thick black lines around his eyes. He wore a plainly over sized, beige shawl, pants that, also, were several sized too big in length, being coiled up over and over at his knees, and sandals.

The child, pale-skinned and small, picked the ball up and, an innocent and friendly smile on his lips, held it out to the gang of boys and girls. "Can I play?" He asked in a quiet, hopeful voice. But instead of accepting his friendship and playing together, they treated him in just the opposite way.

"N-no..." They said while backing away, frightened. "You can keep it." Naruto watched, surprise written over his face, as the others ran away from the smaller one, for a reason that was so far obscure.

_'Maybe it's the red hair?'_ He wondered. _'Haven't seen anyone else with that. Oh! Or maybe it's the baggy eyes! Or...'_

"Wait!" Gaara - the boy - cried with an outstretched hand as they ran. A normal gesture in appearance, it soon proved to be otherwise. In tune with his movement, as if obeying his every command, sand from the ground itself sprang to life and floated, like air itself; presently, the wispy trails followed after the children and caught two by their ankles. They fell, hard, to the floor when the individual grains grabbed them as one, pulling at them like a tight rope firmly looped.

_'...Or it could be because he throws sand at them.' _Naruto finished with a deep frown and furrowed brow. They screamed and clawed as the sand pulled them closer.

"We don't want to play with you!" One screamed with tears forming in her eyes. Naruto gasped; Gaara's face had progressively changed, from hopefulness to desperation, and now from desperation to a sort of fearfulness not so easily described. The effect of the child's declaration, like one domino knocking over another, earned severe retaliation. The sand, which had only grabbed them, now deformed and fell on them like a blade. Pointed projectiles that halted as soon as Naruto placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"I'll play with you!" The blond stated happily, giving a broad, toothy grin. Immediately the sand released the children and fell, just as an adult neither of them saw nor would remember scooped up the children and ran for a nearby building door.

Gaara turned and marveled the boy who stood next to him without a fear in the world, before lowering his gaze from Naruto's whiskered face to his hand. "Why... Isn't the sand...?"

"Eh, who cares?" He replied as he removed his hand from Gaara's shoulder and gave a quick shrug. "You wanted someone to play with, right? Well, what do you wanna' play?" Gaara stared at him silently, his eyes wide with surprise and mouth hung open, when no words were there. But soon his mouth twitched, and the edges formed into a delighted smile.

"Can we build a sand castle?" He asked, assuming the hopefulness he had before.

Naruto blinked, and tilted his head and raised his brow. "Huh?" He started, giving a momentary look at the huge amount of sand available just a little ways away, in the sandbox. "Sure! But, can't you control sand anyways?" Immediately Gaara shook his head, and stared distantly into his own palm.

"No. It always moves on its own. I don't know how to stop it." He explained weakly, "It... Keeps me safe. But it scares everyone away."

"Scares them?" Naruto repeated. He turned his head and frowned at where the children were, and thrust his thumb over his shoulder. "You mean like what happened to them?" Gaara mumbled quietly and motioned a slow nod. Once more facing him, Naruto reignited his grin in full force. "Forget about them! They're lame anyways. I'm Naruto, by the way."

Gaara once more stared blankly at Naruto, like he was lost in some wilderness within his mind, but eventually smiled. "Gaara."

"Well, Gaara..." Naruto started, motioning over to the sandbox. "...Wait, how do you build a sandcastle anyways?" Immediately, Gaara's eyes widened and he gasped in shock. Naruto raised a brow and scratched at his cheek. "Is it bad that I don't know?" Obito had told him to get acquainted with the culture, and in a way that was exactly what he did. Constructing castles and fortresses out of sand was soon revealed to be something of an art in Sunagakure, a city hidden in the depths of those burning grains. Or, at least it was for Gaara.

And in the meanwhile, Obito and Tobi silently watched from atop the clay towers, a veiled smile under his mask. "Excellent. Things are progressing according to plan."

* * *

><p>Even in Sunagakure, and the desert surrounding, every day came to a close. Although the sands went on and on far beyond the eye could see, the world's edge was not there; and the sun fell down ever more. By the time of late evening, on the cusp of day turning to night, only the upper curve of the star remained in sight, and it peered over the horizon shining a bright orange glow over the mountainous wall around the city.<p>

In the center of the village was a roundish building, like a ball, and it sat atop a earthy platform with pathways protruding away, leading to the ground. Its top was only a little above the others, but this one was special more so than they. This was the main administrative and governmental center of Sunagakure - the position from which the Kazekage and his council ruled Sunagakure; much like the Hokage ruled Konohagakure.

Somewhere deep within was a large, round table. Watched over by four statues nearly as tall as the high ceilings, each being in the image of the previous rulers in addition to the current one, the chamber was where the council met and discussed events within their walls, and issued decrees accordingly. It was there, in that dimly lit round room, that the Kazekage and his advisers considered a matter of vile integrity.

"It has gone long enough!" An elderly man declared standing, in a gravely voice. "That child is terrorizing our people! He cannot control the demon within him!" Murmuring came from those who agreed, a sad majority of the fifteen people seated along the table.

"A new host must be selected at once. Someone older, stronger of mind!" Someone else demanded with a slammed palm. "Lord Kazekage, I realize he is your son. But Gaara cannot remain the Jinchuriki. These constant instances of his control being lost are ruining our village."

"Is this necessary?" A man, dressed in a light brown flak jacket over the black clothes beneath, his head hidden by a white cloth, said standing by the door. His name was Yashamaru. "He's just a child. Of course he can't control the Ichibi. When he's older he-"

"No." Yashamaru gasped, eyes visibly widened from behind the veil. Even the councilmen, in all their age-worn intellect, stared in open surprise an amazement. The voice, deep and thoughtful with a measure of ruthless logic, belonged to a man wearing a thick, black jacket. He sat at the seat directly in front of the statues, and laying in front of him on the table was a hat with a blue center and white outlines; marked in the middle with the symbols for the Kazekage. Rasa, the fourth Kazekage, with a full head of brown hair and cunning eyes, had spoken. "The village is at risk; as the Kazekage it is my duty to consider the fate of Sunagakure first before all else."

He paused, taking a ragged, tired breath. "But allow me this. Let us test Gaara once more. Betray everything he has been taught and pretend to kill him; and we will see whether or not your fears of the Ichibi breaking free are valid."

"But-!" Yashamaru started clearly aggravated, but a raised hand on Rasa's part silenced him.

"You are the only one who can perform this task, Yashamaru." He said coldly, silent indifference to his brother-in-law's plea. "You must try to kill Gaara. If you fail, you will lie, and tell him exactly the opposite of what you have. Gaara is now your worst enemy."

For a brief few seconds, which were like aching hours upon the clock, Yashamaru finally bowed. "Yes. Of course, Lord Kazekage."

Minutes later, the council adjourned, and Rasa stood atop the Kazekage building. Hands clenched tightly around the cold railing, a harsh chill engulfing the desert once the son had fallen, he watched out over the village around. He sighed heavily. In mere moments they would all know whether or not Gaara could control the Shukaku; the Ichibi which he had ordered sealed into Gaara before he was born.

But he was not alone.

"Poor, foolish Rasa. Being the Kazekage has ruined you." Immediately he turned with a fierce snarl, but caught nothing but a mere feeling. Once he was not alone, but now he was. Yet that same voice echoed still, "Now, you will learn what happens when you do not take care of your Jinchuriki." He frowned and grunted, but gasped right after when an explosion blasted off in the distance, followed by a child's nearly inhuman scream. Fearfully he turned, seeing the residual smoke created from the detonation, and he whispered in a quiet, shaky voice...

"Gaara."

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><p>The rooftop was in shambles. An entire side had been blown away, what remained crumbling down into the building below. A body, marred, torn, and without any evidence at all to remain of the identity of Yashamaru laid still and bloody, a large radius around it scorched black with flame. And near was a half-dome, a wall made entirely of sand, on the other side crouched a child with his chin on his knees and his hands clenching at his blood-red hair. "No-nobody lo-loves me..." He cried, with his teeth clenched so tight that they threatened to crack.<p>

He was unharmed, his sand had seen to that much, but his mind was broken. "Who... What am I?" He cried, questions that no child could answer. He yelled, a long, aching scream that resonated far and wide, heard by all in Sunagakure. "Why is this happening?!"

"A question I wished I had an answer for." Gaara flinched and growled, and snapped his head around, bringing Obito into view. As soon as he had done so, just like the terrified rage that Gaara felt, the sand struck with similar ferocity. It deformed from the dome, whipping out and striking at Obito. But rather than pulverize him, turn his body into something similar to Yashamaru's, instead the sand harmlessly phased through. Even while they were, the masked-man calmly and quietly approached Gaara, and knelt down to come to eye level with the petrified boy.

"What are you?" He asked nearly tearfully.

"I am a friend." Obito replied, and immediately the sand fell, limp, to the ground, and Gaara's eyes flashed from rage to confusion.

"Friend?"

"That's right." He replied. "You've met Naruto, haven't you? A blond boy with whiskers?" The boy nodded quickly. "I'm his... Guardian, of sorts. I saw you two building a wonderful castle earlier. Naruto hasn't had a friend in some time. The people here are spiteful, and evil, but Naruto and I... We want the best for you, Gaara. You've seen firsthand what the Kazekage will do to you. I want to help you, and keep you safe from his insanity. But, after all, it is your decision. Will you stay here? Or will you leave with us for safety, Gaara?" Obito held out his hand slowly and steadily.

After a moment, Gaara took it; and then they were both sucked into a vortex and were gone. They arrived moments later in the square-land filled world of Obito's dimension. Gaara was immediately taken by the dark abyss, staring blankly off into the never ending darkness that stretched on and on. Just as soon as he had begun to investigate, wincing to pierce the veil, an excited voice broke into his curiosity. "Gaara!" Naruto shouted happily with a large grin. "What're you doing here?"

"He will be joining us on our travels, Naruto." Obito explained with a hand on the redheaded boy's shoulder. "But he has had a very difficult day. We are going to find a place to rest for a little while, before we continue your training. Gaara will also be participating once he is ready." So it was, just as Obito had said, that they found a hotel in the Land of Rivers, which bordered the Land of Wind where Sunagakure resided. But more importantly, something else happened.

A lifelong friendship was born.


	3. Chapter 3

EndlessChains - Thanks for the Review! I'll do my best!

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><p><em>"But there are nine?" Asked Obito, who stared amazed at a large scroll spread out over a table. It was difficult to see, the light was dim from only a small torch. But in practicing the use of his Sharingan in a constant state, fused with the power Madara had given him, those words that remained difficult; like the mysteries of the world that lay shrouded, unrevealed; would soon become clear as day. "Nine beasts. And they're all sealed inside people?"<em>

_"Yes." Replied a heavily aged Madara, the once mighty leader of the Uchiha and co-founder of Konoha. "These demons... They are ancient creatures. Created by the Great Sage himself. They are used now as a display of power by villages. The leaders advertise their Jinchuriki to each other as a reminder that they are not defenseless. All five of the Great Villages possess at least one." Obito laughed in amusement, his mouth open and the edges curved up into the faint beginnings of a smile. "But, Obito..." The young Uchiha turned to his master with a quirked brow. "These people, though they are gifted with immense power, they are also cursed with __stigmatization. Their fellows fear them, hate them, despise them. As such they are pulled away from their comrades, leaving themselves open to death by a coordinated effort. It is this separation that will allow our plan to proceed."_

_"They're hated?" Obito repeated with a hint of sadness. Never once was it suspected that they, people who should be hailed as heroes, were instead treated just as unfairly as the monsters they held. "But why? Shouldn't they be loved?"_

_"Would you, Obito, love someone you knew was connected directly to a monster that took the lives of your loved ones?" The tone with which Madara spoke was so even, so calm and cold, so tactical in its use, that he might have been mistaken for a machine. But Obito, not phased by his elder's question, simply smiled._

_"Of course! Because without them those monsters would be killing still."_

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><p>Chapter III<p>

Tayuya

Naruto and Gaara had both been immensely surprised. It was a white beach, the ocean side sand soft and warm, and the water was cool and clear. A pleasant breeze rolled in from the coast, pressing up small waves that rocketed to and fro, and blew into the nearby forest and rustled its tall tree leaves. There were even an abundance of fish that hopped up over the drifting water, shaking their silvery scaled fins and flopping back under; and a wide assortment of other wildlife that frolicked through the underbrush.

A perfect location for relaxing, which was why they were all shocked to discover that not a single settlement had been formed there. It was void of all humanity, not a soul of the sort to be seen all along its wide beaches. The entire country was the same. An area of land left devoid of habitation for no reason given, with no landmark of any sort to recognize it by save for a stretch of mountains where the bones of dragons reside; The Mountain Graveyard.

Ignoring that amazing sight, which all of them had seen on Obito's insistence, which may have been taken as a sort of bad omen of which the cultures of the land were particularly adept at steering clear from, there was no reason at all for any nation to not claim the uncolonized land as its own or for an attempt at forming a new country to fail. But neither of them were going to complain. Gaara was too quiet to, and Naruto was having too much fun.

It wasn't the best thing to ride on, that much was certain. But as the rising and falling waves pushed Naruto around on a piece of wood taken from the trunk of a tree, that likely wouldn't have remained floating had he not been using a small amount of chakra to keep it above the water, Naruto didn't care whether or not it was the best board in the world. All the same, surfing had yet to be turned into sport, and as such devices for better riding the waves weren't invented.

In the meanwhile, Gaara patiently and cautiously patted down a clump of soaked sand, compacting perfectly to complete a triple-towered castle wall with a multi-windowed palace, additional buildings, a gate and drawbridge, along with a moat. As a finishing touch he carved a little bronze flag out of the very same sand, and placed one on each of the tips of the cone-shaped rooftops atop the towers. He took a step back, the sand-made structure easily five inches higher than he, and smiled proudly at his work.

"Watch out!" If he had eyebrows, Gaara would have twitched them. Like a tornado shredding apart a billboard, with thankfully less splinters but far more pieces, first a wave crashed onto the beach and then Naruto, in orange and black swim trunks, body slammed through the castle. The sheer force of wind nearly tipped Gaara over. After sliding through the grainy beach, Naruto sat up, hair, head, and body coated with wet sand, and smiled cheekily. "Wow! Good thing that castle stopped me. Thanks Gaara!"

"You're... Welcome." Gaara replied deadpan, staring intently at a stubble of base that had once held up his glorious sand castle. He himself was dressed much more than Naruto, preferring instead a dark red, short sleeved shirt, dark brown leggings, and a black overcoat with cut sleeves, an open front, and a hood over his back. Obito had told them they could dress however they wish, but that their outfits must always have, either with purchase or sewn afterwards, a hood and mask.

Three years. It had been three seemingly long years since Gaara left Sunagakure with Obito and Naruto, having met them only that day but so hurt by his father's betrayal that he cared little nonetheless. It had been a naive choice in hindsight, but there was little to be said about it now, and it had turned out splendidly for Gaara. In spite of Naruto, without apology, obliterating his sculpture in a brilliant display of a human slingshot. Because c'est la vie - that's life. Certainly proved to be the case, such as it was, whenever Naruto was around.

"So how's your castle coming along?" Naruto asked with clueless idiocy as he stepped over, and Gaara finally let out a cry as he slumped to his knees.

"My sand castle..." He mumbled weakly.

"Oh. ...Sorry."

They were both nine, yet in some ways appeared older in that respect. Their individual bodies were honed, not to a degree of being horrifyingly bulky or even extraordinarily so, but still remained far more lean and muscular in appearance than anyone else their age. Naruto was a head taller than Gaara, owing to the latter's early birth, but that hardly took away from Gaara's overage maturity. Yet they were, as it was, still children in mind and age, despite Obito's training of them both. They were still people. Although their master worked them hard, likewise he assured them that they would still have time for fun. And that they did.

But all good things always came to an end. Unfortunately Gaara, for all his effort, would not have the time to finish his creation.

"It's time to move." Obito suddenly announced once appearing at the tree side. Of course he hadn't walked out, he had teleported himself to the location. "I have located a suitable hideout for us to begin my plan. All that remains is to go there, and negotiate for the ability to remain there."

"Negotiate with who?" Gaara asked intuitively, observing their teacher with an inquisitive eye. "If it's a hideout for us, why will someone else know?"

"It would be fitting if we were to have a base of operations all to ourselves, but then we would be forced to split our attention between furthering the agenda and gathering supplies for our own survival. I have chosen a location where we can hide in secret, have our basic needs attended to, while proceeding with our objectives without interference." Obito explained without pause, as if he expected just that sort of question.

Naruto, with a smile aimed towards his anticipation of traveling once more, yanked a brown bag with a shoulder strap free of its position wedged between two pointed rocks. "So where are we headed?"

"The Land of Rice Fields." Obito said with a tilt of his orange-masked head. "Although that isn't so accurate. It has been taken under new leadership recently by a former, powerful member of Konohagakure's Shinobi. A revolution of sorts took place. Now it's known as the Land of Sound."

"I thought we were avoiding the Great Nations." Gaara added with a frown, "How do we know this 'powerful shinobi' won't betray us?"

"Because we have something he wants." Obito answered with a quickness that set Gaara at unease. "His name is Orochimaru, a pathetic, slithering little man despite his talent and ability. He is obsessed with power, and with learning every technique and jutsu known to man; but more importantly, immortality. You two have the power, and I have the Sharingan. It is not whether or not he will betray us - he _will. _But that is inconsequential. He will think to use us, but he will be the one used. And when we have drained him of everything, he will be discarded simply enough."

"Sounds straightforward to me." Naruto said, now dressed in dark grey pants with a blackish sweatshirt, orange lined down the center and around the cuffs, with a hood folded back. "So we go there, wherever there is, tell him we're using his home, and kick his hind-tail if he tries to do anything about it."

Obito chuckled while Gaara rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's just about right." ...More or less. "We will use my eye's power to get close to Otogakure. However, we will have to walk there after that. We may get lucky and impress him enough just by appearing there, but I'd rather not take the chance of ruining the negotiations. Guru is already there, so it's best we hurry." Without another word, and after they had all huddled together so that Obito could put his hands on each of their shoulders, they were sucked into the vortex and brisked away.

Otogakure wasn't that far away. It took them little time at all for Obito to place them in a dirty clearing surrounded by short ledges and lightly layered trees. When they emerged, the children had been outfitted with little pouches along their thighs and belts, where a variety of tools were hidden. Further, Gaara now had a large, brownish gourd with a cork in the end, and it was held to his back by a thick, grey strap. After traversing the Land of Sound for only a few minutes, where silence made up the majority of their communication save for Naruto's asking whether or not they were close, finally came into view Orochimaru's base; Otogakure.

Every other hidden village was a city, hidden by the village's respective name; as Konoha was hidden by the trees; and so Naruto and Gaara had expected to arrive and find a bustling city. The truth could not have been farther. Under a large, hulking tree was a small stairway leading down, and at the bottom was the front of a greyish house of which only the front could be seen; the rest was further down.

"Halt! State your business!" Demanded a thin man dressed in warm-looking clothes; amethyst-sort of colored short-sleeved shirt that fell down like an apron over his nether regions, and under it what may as well have been a black full-body suit that covered every inch of him except at the eyes where a portion had been cut away so he could see. His waist was tied around with brownish bandages, and around his neck was wrapped a scarf with the pattern of a snake, and on his forehead was a metal plate with a sound icon on it. Another man dressed just like him, who may as well have been his twin, stood by the downhill stairway.

"Guess we aren't expected?" Naruto asked, without caring at all one way or another. They'd just bust in anyways.

"Oh HEY guys!" Called a chipper voice from nearby. They all knew what that meant. Well, except for the Sound people. They didn't know what was coming until they were smacked extremely hard on the backs of their heads, in rapid succession; and even after they woke up they'd still know nothing save for that their skulls felt like a drum. For a moment, Tobi stopped over their fallen, twitching, unconscious selves and stared at them, switching between each, with curious mutterings, until finally he glanced up at the group. "Tobi thinks Orochimaru overworks his test subjects. They fell asleep!"

"Because you hit them, Guru." Obito explained while clasping the upper curve of his mask between his fingers. "Fine, we'll have to fight out way in after all. So much for being civil."

"With Tobi on guard, that comes as no surprise." Gaara mused quietly, sighing, then following Obito down into the base. Naruto and Tobi likewise, with Naruto laughing openly and Tobi scratching his inhuman skull confusedly.

The tunnels beneath were dark, lit only but sporadic torches built into the walls. There was no telling how far down the hallway stretched, the dim lighting making it impossible to ascertain, but it seemed by the echoes of their footsteps that it was indeed a rather long hallway. The walls were a brownish, rusted metal and the floors likewise, the ceiling similar but lined with noisy pipes that crisscrossed all over. No sooner had they all stepped into the hall, Tobi being last with Naruto and Gaara flanking Obito, then the entire area was populated with Sound shinobi.

All dressed just like the two incapacitated guards, all tense and ready for action, and all completely unaware that they were completely and entirely screwed. Sucks to be them.

"Take care of them." Obito instructed boldly after a round of intense staring between the two groups. The children stepped forward, Gaara with a frown and his arms crossed over his chest, and Naruto with a happy, almost innocent smile and his hands buried in his pockets. It was understandable why the older, seemingly stronger Oto forces dropped their guards, some with twitching eyes while others tilted their heads. But then the cork in Gaara's gourd popped loose, falling harmlessly to the ground, and sand hovered out like a snake out of a pot. More and more came out, until the entire area where the four stood was covered in floating sand.

And then that layer shot forward, pounding into the men as if a strong wind had kicked up a dust storm. While they cowered, Naruto pressed the attack, still smiling; a kunai fell into his palm from his sleeve. He leaped at the front, who had only barely managed to open his eyes before Naruto cut though his neck. Again, and again, and again Naruto hacked and slashed, bouncing off the floor, walls, and ceilings like a rubber ball; and each time making direct contact through the men's necks. Never stopping for breath, and fast enough to appear almost a blur, he worked his way to the other end; finally sliding to a stop behind the last.

Every single one, without even having a chance to react, fell into a jumbled heap on the floor. Naruto hadn't once dropped his happy grin, in spite of a single speck of blood on his cheek. It was with this smile that he looked up from behind him after the bodies collapsed, and in a cheerful voice said, "Hi there."

Normally, this would be strange, as the people who greeted them were either unconscious or dead. Who he said hello to was not them, however, but another person who stood at the end of the hallway. With flowing red hair that dropped down to her shoulders, a thick bundle over her forehead, and it all held together at the top by a black hat wrapped with bandages at the bottom, a girl stood at the end of the hallway. Without falter, she watched the blond intently with a furrowed brow and clenched fists.

Wearing a tan tunic, similar to that worn by the fodder, wrapped at the waist by a thick, purple rope, although she was lacking the Oto head plate it was simple to see she was a member of Orochimaru's brood. Naruto straightened, absentmindedly spinning the dagger around in his hand, and eyed her with curiosity. She was their age, at least appeared so; and her demeanor indicated no small amount of confidence of her own. "Is it your turn now?"

She raised a brow, smirking subtly as one hand untensed and reached for a long, black pouch on her waist. "What? Think you're all tough now 'cause you took down those lightweights?" She taunted with a flick of her hair. "I'll make mincemeat outta' you, blondie."

"Feisty, ain't ya'?" Naruto countered with a grin, the weapon now firmly grasped. He crouched a little lower, legs bent, head hawked forward like a leopard ready to strike. "Let's see what you can do then." She snorted, and pulled what at first appeared to be a silver tube, metal but neither ends being sharpened at all, nor was there any evidence of poison.

Gaara murmured a gasp, something of equal amount of realization and surprise, as his sand returned to his gourd to allow a straight, clear view between them. He turned and faced Obito, who watched on silently. Tobi, however, had vanished, and was no where to be seen. But that wasn't very surprising, because it was Tobi, and Tobi often disappeared without reason or notice for extended periods of time. However, that wasn't important. "Is that... a flute?"

"It appears so, yes." Obito answered, not without adding his own silent musings. _'A mere instrument, but I doubt its uses are merely for musical purposes. She plans to use it as a weapon. Genjustu, clearly; illusions created from its sound, but its plating is sturdy enough that...'_

Naruto rushed forward, momentarily becoming nothing more than a yellow blur against the dull grey of the hall before reemerging with a flurry of sparks; the redheaded girl raised her flute immediately, as soon as Naruto moved, and it and his blade met in the middle. If Naruto was at all surprised, he didn't show it, instead pushing down and thrusting forward; but she merely twirled, allowing the sharp end to trim the very tips of her hair, but swung the harsh steel of her flute across and aimed at Naruto's cheek.

This he ducked under, the cold instrument-turned weapon brushing over his golden locks, and despite his earlier forward momentum he pushed hard on his front foot, jumping back out of range of her second bat aimed at his throat. "That all, short-stuff? Haven't even broken a sweat yet." She said smugly, chin raised in a prideful manner. Now, it was Naruto's turn to snort.

"Just giving you a chance to warm up. But if you want me to go all out, then by all means..." He ran towards her again, a thrilled, happy grin plastered on his cheeks, and in a strange turn of events, she returned it with a smirk of her own. They both grunted as their weapons collided, sparks flying, the shrill clash echoing down the halls. The force pushed them away, and Naruto immediately stabbed forward without losing a second of momentum.

Then the wall, literally, fell on him.

Smashed into large chunks of steel and concrete, the debris only barely missed Naruto, but closer on his mind was the rather large, rather overweight man that now had his fist stretched forward, ready to pummel the blond's face into the ground. "Wha-?" He started, grin somewhat waning as he came face to fist. Quickly, muscles pressed, he dodged to the side; and although the man's massive fist briefly caught in the opposite wall he quickly broke himself loose and wailed another wild punch. Naruto backed away, staring up at the giant who, even slouched slightly in his attack, was twice as tall as Naruto; and easily three times as large.

_'Diet. Definitely.'_ Naruto thought with a wince; however, in spite of his obesity, his power was unquestionable. Even missing Naruto still felt the wind, and the shock of the impact was enough to rattle the area. It was enough that, off balance as he was, Naruto was blown backwards; not his feet at least, which remained on the ground, but his body fell behind as if he was playing Limbo.

A kunai flew over him, held by a thin, pale hand; and Naruto was suddenly far more happy that he had been blown over. Because if he hadn't, he would be far more injured than he currently was; which wasn't at all. Throwing his arms over his head and tossing his feet up, he back-flipped onto the wall, catching eyes with the third attacker. This one was his size, which was a relief. Dressed just like the other two, he had silverish hair, a long, thin face, dark green lips, and... _'Why does he have a broken second head? ...Scratch that, why does he have two heads?!'_ Naruto wondered, eyes wide.

He pushed off the wall, deflecting an upwards stab and flipped; he landed on his feet, spun, and parried the kunai again while ducking under a third punch from the larger man. Striking forward, intent on gutting through his skinnier foe's abdomen, his attack was quickly deflected and he was forced to stumble backwards away from a downwards, two-fisted hammer pound; because he had no intention of being the anvil. Then there was a spitting sound. Naruto turned, still without regaining his balance, just in time to witness a large, white spiderweb of sorts speeding towards him!

Then a tall pillar of sand shot up from the floor and caught it. Gaara hand't moved from his spot, arms still crossed over his chest but face darkened into a determined frown, and his sand whipped about him like the tentacles of a raging Octopus. Simultaneously, two strands shot towards the large one and the two-headed one, and they were pushed away from Naruto; the redheaded girl hugged the wall, scowling and frowning in a not-so-happy way. Confident the other two opponents were being warded off by Gaara, Naruto leaned over to peer around the pillar, and a little down saw a very much tan man. _'And why does he have six arms?!'_

Almost sheepishly, and certainly hesitantly, he looked towards the girl and gave her another once-over. "Are you the only _normal_ looking one here?"

The girl, Tayuya, sighed and rolled her eyes. "You don't know the half of it."

"Huh." Naruto grunted, scratching his head in a slow, perturbed manner. Tayuya groaned and stamped her foot, and aimed a glare directly towards the two-headed one.

"Oi, birdbrain! I didn't ask for your help, not that you've done much!" She yelled in complaint. "I could've taken all these pests!"

"Not likely." Sakon the two-headed answered, shifting between Naruto and Gaara; deciding which to attack. "You might have exhausted them before they killed you. Nothing more." Tayuya grumbled angrily, still staring with a sort of frustration right into Sakon's back; which was, rather, at the secondary, defunct head. Naruto whirled around when a string of laughter erupted from down the hall.

"These guys?" The six-armed man, Kidomaru, bellowed with two arms across his stomach; now into view as Gaara's sand slipped back down to the ground. "You're overestimating them. Even Jirobo could take them out!" At his mention, the bigger fellow's frown deepened and he clenched his fists tighter. This did not go unnoticed by Gaara, who eyed the larger, seemingly stronger than them all man.

_'He's the weakest?' _He observed, the skin above his eyes pushed inward in an invisible scowl. _'That's a surprise. And the thin one must be the leader, or else that girl would have yelled at someone else.'_

"Wow." Naruto huffed, looking between them with his hands held at his hips, hardly interested at all in whoever they claimed was the weakest or the strongest. He grinned, not at all uneasy about being technically outnumbered despite Obito's presence; his didn't count, because he had yet to move at all and merely watched from the sidelines. "You guys really meet the stereotype for the average 'villain team', y'know that?" Tayuya snorted, Sakon, Jirobo, and Kidomaru growled; but everyone sans Obito tensed in anticipation.

"Stop, this instant." A calm, cold, and chill-inducing voice interrupted the ferocity that permeated the hall. From the new doorway Jirobo had created with his own force, hand on the jagged wall, a tall man stood. He had pale skin, shoulder-length white hair parted in a zigzag through the very middle, two red, painted dots on his forehead above his thin eyebrows, and sharp, green eyes. He wore an outfit like the others, but his had a zipper down the front and a yin-yang symbol on the fabric hanging by his legs. "Lord Orochimaru is expecting them. You will let him pass."

He glanced towards Naruto who smiled still, giving a quirk of his brow at the blond, but then turned to Obito who walked forward, and motioned down the dimly lit hallway behind him. "This way. He is waiting."

Obito silently followed him down the hall. Naruto and Gaara exchanged looks, Naruto shrugging while doing so, and they both walked down the revealed passage as well. This one was just as dark as the first, but wider and taller, and several bronze and stone statues depicting hissing and slithering snakes lined the walls. They glared at them with slanted, green jeweled eyes and pointed teeth; but they didn't care, nor did they ever stop to stare. Finally the hall widened into a larger chamber, lit only by two small fires on the far side and two more by the entry; and a few torches along the walls and a chandelier, yet despite all these sources still they had to squint at first to see anything at all.

Two large pillars held up the high ceiling, and a dragon statue of sorts made of gold glared down at them on the far side. And there, seated on a brownish throne, was a white-skinned man with green, slanted eyes like the statues before, and purplish liner that seemed almost too natural. He leaned on one arm, dressed in a tan tunic and black, long-sleeved undershirt and pants, and his ghastly face was stretched out into a wide smile as he observed his guests with inquisitive eyes.

"You are..." Orochimaru began in a slow, deliberate voice. "...the one I've heard a lot about lately, aren't you?" A thick tension rose up into the chamber, filling it like the darkened shadows out of the torch light's view, as the snake and the Uchiha stared each other down. "That's right; the one that has stolen something very valuable to two very powerful people. Jinchuriki, if I'm not mistaken. Isn't that right, false-Madara?" On mention of Jinchuriki, for an instant, Orochimaru's gaze shifted to the two children, before returning at once to the masked man.

"That's correct. And as I understand it you, as well, have been busy. Experimenting with Senju DNA, no less." Obito countered swiftly, narrowing his single, visible eye at the snake of a man. The Sharingan was not active, and thus his eye was a pitch black, but still it shone with a certain radiance of power, authority, and confidence. "Which, by the way, is something else I've managed to come across." He blinked, his eye turning crimson with three tomoe, and the vortex so common for his ability swirled out like the pattern of his mask.

Orochimaru's smile dropped, and his eyes widened slightly, but still he remained unmoved. But when a pale, freakish arm emerged from the portal, covered with points on which multiple eyelids snapped closed from palm to forearm, Orochimaru lifted his head and silently gasped. "A present." Obito explained with a hidden smile. "I'm afraid the eyes are useless, but the genetics within that arm are still potent as ever."

"I... See." The snake said, regaining his composure. "And your reason for coming here is...?"

"A place to stay. My deal is simply this:" said Obito, once more back to his normal eye. "We would like a place to hide, to train, and to survive. All we ask is for you to provide the necessary shelter, food, and water that we require; par my inspection."

"That can be easily done. But what do I get in return?" Their host wondered.

"In exchange, we will swear allegiance to Otogakure, and aid in your own agendas; so long as they do not interfere with ours. This would, of course..." He motioned then to Naruto and Gaara, "...put two Jinchuriki under your power, through me." Orochimaru's grin widened and he licked his lips with a long, slithering tongue. "I'm sure you see the benefits of such an arrangement?"

For a little while Orochimaru stayed quiet. Whatever thoughts shifted through his plotting mind were unknown; but he studied the lifeless limb thrown at his feet as if he were reading a book sprawled along the floor. Obito, likewise, did not persist or demand an answer, instead patiently waiting for whatever response the white-skinned man had to give, wordlessly insisting that Naruto and Gaara do the same with but a momentary glance to each. And like with all his other commands, they listened.

And soon enough, their patience was rewarded. "I accept." Orochimaru told them, rather abruptly ending the quiet that had permeated the room, ignoring the lapping of the flames at the shrouded darkness around. Despite the fact that, as per the terms of their agreement, they would become willing pawns in whatever game Orochimaru was playing, there was a palpable, heavy uneasy tension, as if a dagger was held to their necks and there was nothing they could do to remove it. Of course, that was all in the imagination. Soon enough Orochimaru smiled, and leaned back in his stone chair. "Kimimaro, show them to their rooms; and, remove the pests currently occupying them, would you?"

"Of course, Lord Orochimaru." Said the tall, white-haired man who had interrupted the fight before, hardly sparing a moment before he walked towards another hall, smaller than the one they entered to approach the chamber, that hid along the side wall. It was three people wide, albeit cramped to the point of discomfort so they avoided walking as such, and tall enough that they wouldn't risk bumping their heads if they hopped.

This led on to another, similarly sized but a little larger, and this eventually led to a series of closed, brown doors. Here Kimimaro stopped, and held a hand up to pause them. "It will just be a minute. These rooms need to be freed before you are able to move in." Promptly, he entered, and before he had closed the first door behind him already they could hear the surprised and angry exclamations from within. And then there were shrieks of pain and terror, and a rumbling like a wall being broken apart, more screams, and finally silence.

Finally, Kimimaro exited a third door away from the one he entered, just a small splatter of blood on his sleeve. "The bodies will be disposed of shortly." With nothing more than those words, he walked away, down into the blackness of the distant hall.

"That was... Interesting?" Naruto offered with a lopsided grin. There was little else to be said about the strange man's even stranger actions, although the fact that they had a pile of bodies laying in their newly acquired rooms perhaps could have used more comment. But they were, after all, merely corpses, something far too commonplace in a world centered around shinobi.

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><p>And shinobi killed on a regular basis, as Tayuya knew all too well. The darkness was something she was used to, the dim lighting more than enough for her to find her way. As she walked down those nightmarish pathways, her thin eyebrows pressed together in a scowl and her mouth slanted down in a frown. Visions of her brief spar with the blond flashed through her mind, all the while his constant, unwavering grin being the most vivid. That alone, coupled with his effort, brought Tayuya to one conclusion.<p>

_'That shrimp wasn't even trying to kill me.'_ She thought, as was the point of her frustration. She recognized it all; when he made to stab at her and she twirled to dodge, and his kunai sliced past her hair; at that moment he had stumbled, and it was far too obvious that it had been an intentional blunder. Of course he used that to his advantage by ducking under her counter, but even so that he had the position and method of cutting her down, but didn't... _'Grah! This pisses me off!'_

Of course she, along with the rest of the Sound Five, had been privy via eavesdropping of what the conversation had been all about; she knew that the blond, along with his redheaded friend and the masked wonder would all be living in Otogakure as of then. That alone gave her consolation, that although he had been entirely pulling back for some twisted entertainment, she would have a chance. _'Better watch out, blondie. You let your guard down and I'm gonna' gut you like the tadpole you are.'_

Eventually, the walls widened out into an expanse, and the tiling and wallpaper fell away as Tayuya stepped out into a cavernous chamber. The floor, walls, and ceilings were made of hardened stone, and the entire room was lit by a single torch by the entrance. At the end of the room was a rock staircase that led up to a thin ledge; on the wall below this were two gated rooms, and at the top too more. This was the quarters of the Sound Four, a place of solitude and darkness, where they were to spend their nights meditating on what little power Orochimaru had given them.

Tayuya's room was at the top. She ascended the stairway, and inched along the very thin walkway above until she game to her room; blocked by a brownish steel. There was a lock, but Tayuya found that she could push it open without using the key, and immediately became alarmed! She drew a kunai from her pouch and, carefully and quietly, walked in. It was dark, needing to be lit by a candle by the entry. She switched the kunai to her left hand and drew a match, and this match she struck against a black strip along the wall; and the flame created from it she gave to the candle.

The room shone alight with the steady flickering of the little lamp, and immediately Tayuya tensed. There, crouched over next to a short dresser with one of the drawers open, was a strange creature that almost looked naked. It reached in, pulled out a cloth, and held it up in front of its face. And then, as if it had only just became aware of Tayuya's presence and the new found light, it quickly stood, backed up against the wall, and held up the pink clothing as if to defend itself.

For a moment, Tayuya was shocked. She couldn't comprehend that a strange, inhuman creature had really just peeked on her panties.

"Eheh." It started. "Tobi's a good boy?"

Tayuya growled, and with her first still clenched tight around that black dagger, she stomped forward. And all Tobi could do, was scream.

"AAAaaaiiiiyeeeee!"


	4. Chapter 4

Kronus96 - Thanks for the Review. I can understand how you feel, but I'd encourage you to keep reading. I won't go into detail, but the protagonists aren't as villainous as they may appear.

Dragon Country - Thanks for the Review. As I told Kronus, I won't go into detail, but it's not going to be the Eye of The Moon Plan, for sure!

EndlessChains - Thanks for the Review. Glad you found it entertaining; it was certainly fun to write.

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><p><em>Hiruzen Sarutobi. Once the venerable and powerful Third Hokage, now merely an adviser for the current, he was getting along in years. His skin was wrinkled and marked by age spots, and his bones often ached with the arthritis of his many active years. He thought that it was coming towards the time when he would hang up his headband for good, and retire contently with his wife Biwako.<em>

_That's what he thought. But now he held a whitish, short sleeved robe with a crimson flame pattern at the bottom edge. He thumbed over the words on the back, 'Fourth', and his old, studious eyes drifted up towards the other man in the room. "What's this, Minato?" He asked, although it was a question he already knew the answer to._

_"I'm sorry, Lord Third." Minato apologized quietly, with a thoughtful frown. He stood at the doorway to Hiruzen's book-filled study, dressed fully in his shinobi uniform. "After everything's that happened, I can't remain Hokage."_

_"Why?" Hiruzen questioned, with a narrowed gaze. The responsibilities of the Hokage were great, and the tragedy that had befallen Minato's family less than a year before had only compounded the undoubtedly stressful situation the Yellow Flash had found himself in. His question was one that did not require an answer. Because Hiruzen already knew what that answer was. Minato sighed in a tired, sad way, shoulders slumped._

_"I couldn't protect my own family. I can't pretend to keep my village safe with that in mind." Minato turned and pushed the single, wooden door open, stepped out into the adjacent hall. Before he closed the door, however, he gave one final glance at the Third. "Until I find Naruto, I refuse to be the Hokage."_

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><p>Chapter IV<p>

The Hunt

The howling wind blew through Minato's thick, blond hair. It was strong, blasting over the rising dunes of the harsh desert around him, and it scorched against his skin like the breath of a dragon. Over his shinobi attire he wore a white cloak, button at the front, and a large hood flapped behind him. He would have worn it, only that every time he tried the fierce wind blew it off just as soon as he let go. Little blotches of sand shot up by the breeze, threatening to multiply into a sandstorm but resisting for the moment.

Walking beside him, dressed similarly, was the redheaded bombshell he had for a wife. Kushina was dressed similar to him, only her bright red hair was fairing far worse. It flew behind her in messy shambles, and the sand stuck to it persistently as if it were magnetized. So her thin, twitching brow and her angry glare was understandable. Why she was mad at him, however, was something still very much a mystery.

"It _had_ to be the desert!" She yelled over the howling wind, trying desperately to hold her hair together. "You couldn't agree to meet the Kazekage at a more quiet time of the day?!"

Minato laughed sheepishly, wincing at his wife's tone. "It was supposed to be clear skies today. But I guess we were wrong."

"You guess?!" She bellowed, releasing her hair and letting it fly wildly. There was no guessing about it, of course. Within the span of their short conversation the wind picked up even more, lodging gradually more painful grains into them and picking greater quantities by the second. In no time at all it had kicked up into a full strength sandstorm, vision reduced to no more than inches in front of them and their ears rendered useless by the roaring winds.

_'These aren't survivable traveling conditions.'_ Minato realized rather quickly, grabbing onto Kushina's wrist and pulling her closer. Wordlessly, on account that they could barely hear their own thoughts by that time, Minato breezed through one-handed seals faster than most eyes could follow. And then, like a balloon filling with helium, a roundish, nearly invisible barrier grew around them. It formed a wall that pushed the wind and sand away, leaving a circle of calm within the rampaging storm.

"Why didn't you just do this before?!" Kushina shouted, effectively ruining whatever remained of Minato's hearing. "That would've helped us out, y'know!"

"It's not like I can focus on the barrier while moving..." He quietly explained with a faint smile. She huffed and brushed her hair back down, combing it with her hands; not having an opportunity to do it before. It wasn't that she was generally more worried about her hair than their overall safety, it was just that it was very difficult to be an effective kunoichi when one had an octopus on their head stretched out in every direction.

After fixing herself and tying it together into a band, she fixed Minato a look of concern. "You can't keep this thing active until the wind dies down, right? We aren't going to make it to Suna if this keeps up." Minato frowned, staring into the now clouded distance, unable to see beyond the respite his fortress had created.

"I don't know. Depends on how long this storm lasts. I can hold it together for at least half a day, but any longer and this be really difficult." He answered honestly. He had chakra aplenty, and the control to use it effectively, but too long and even he would start to feel the strain. The minutes went by, closing on an hour, and still the rampaging weather showed no indication of faltering, instead keeping on its ferocious assault on Minato's technique. But then there was a sudden shift, a drastic change in the wind and the sand.

Where once it shifted and turned, once attacking from the north then switching to the south and east in rapid, unpredictable changes, now it had a strong course northward. The sand blew skyward, away from his barrier, and through it Minato and Kushina felt something else was amiss. Minato gasped faintly when he realized what it was, not out of surprise or anxiety, but a thankful undertone instead.

It wasn't like his own barrier, which created a space around them that seemed for all pretenses to be invisible. What appeared just beyond that radius was, instead, a strong cyclone of wind that blasted away the horrible storm, clearing the weather in a large portion of desert around them; and at the center was a group of no less than six sand-colored flak jacket wearing men and women, who wore beige cloths over their faces and wielded large fans; each nearly their size, white on the inside and backed with a blackish metal.

These they waved, not simultaneously but in sequence, when one finished theirs another started and so forth. The cyclone was created by their effort. In the center was a broad shouldered man who, unlike his comrades, had only the leftmost side of his face covered, and under his thick jawline. Despite that for most accounts he seemed just like any other Sunagakure shinobi, Minato recognized him immediately. He was Baki, one of Sunagakure's most powerful shinobi. Baki scowled momentarily, the two fang-like markings on his right cheek scrunching up towards his eye.

"You are the Yellow Flash." He said; there was little point in asking for confirmation. Minato's appearance, coupled with the barrier he easily created, was more than enough proof of his identity. "The Kazekage sent us to escort you once the sandstorm began to strengthen." Minato narrowed his eyes faintly, Kushina more noticeably scowled, both wondering whether or not to trust the convenient arrival of the sand shinobi. But finally, after a moment's consideration, Minato lowered the barrier; allowing the shinobi's wind to blast past them and keep the sand away.

And also allowing Kushina's hair to get messed up again.

Minato winced when she flashed him an angry look, and at least one of the other men nearly fainted when she directed her rage at them as well. Having the Kyubi removed from her hadn't eased her temperament at all, unfortunately. Quickly enough she regained some semblance of a composure, desperately trying to pull her hair together despite that it seemed to be held apart by static itself. Knowing that laughing at the scene would be facing death itself, and wanting to get to Suna as quickly as possible, Minato gave a nod towards their new companions. "Lead the way."

In no time at all they had found their way through the blinding whirlwind, thanks in large part to the efforts of their entourage; and although the storm still went on strong they were protected soon enough by a thick and tall barrier of rock. The crevice within was steep and narrow, and though a strong, harsh wind still stung their cheeks the sand was left behind. Half of their group had remained at the front, manning the barricades that rose up with the cliff like steps on a stairway, in an effort to hold off the weather; and to some extend they succeeded, but wind still ruffled through the village.

Baki and what remained of his companions led Minato and Kushina to the Kazekage's Office, that large yet stubby and round building that was the center point of Sunagakure. Around it at its base was a thick wall of packed clay, worn by the ceaseless battering of the desert's terrain, that curved around the building like a round outer shell. Through this they passed, under an open archway fit enough for a carriage to be pulled with space to spare, into the foot-torn courtyard just before an open entry, flanked on both sides by large, wooden double doors.

A stairway, long and steep as it climbed to the very top of the circular building, led them up deeper into the office. The halls inside were square unlike the exterior, and brightly lit by ceiling lights that revealed the tan painted walls and dirty white tiled floors. Assistants passed them frequently at fast walks, often with bundles of papers and files in their hands but occasionally lacking. Finally, Baki led them to a largely inconspicuous, single door of a hard earthen structure. "He's waiting for you inside." Their guide told them with an even face as he knocked twice at the door, before opening it and letting them through.

Rasa was pacing back and forth on the rug just beyond the edge of his large square desk, hands folded behind the back of his black shirt and a deep scowl pressed over his features. He hadn't even turned to acknowledge the pair, even as they entered, and appeared to evidently be lost in thought. Minato cleared his throat in a deliberate yet quiet manner. "Excuse me, Lord Kazekage?"

Suddenly, Rasa turned towards them with his eyes wide and an expression of shock written over his widened eyes. "You! When...?" He started, but quickly regained his senses and shook the surprise away. "My apologies, I did not realize you had already arrived, Lord Hokage."

"Just... Minato is fine." Minato returned quickly, emphasis on the announced yet widely ignored fact that he had resigned his post several years ago. "I don't believe you've met Kushina?" He said while stepping to the side to allow his wife to step forward.

"Pleased to meet you." She pleasantly greeted with a friendly smile, one Rasa returned with a simple, straight-faced nod. Inwardly she ticked, and her eyebrows threatened to twitch and her jaw struggled to clench, but these urges Kushina resisted in favor of maintaining, if barely, her kindly expression. Minato passed a sideways glance at her, offering an apologetic wince.

"You've learned something?" Minato quickly asked with a frown, eager to cut right to the heart of their reason for being there. Rasa hummed and held a hand to his chin, eyes downcast in thought. The room was dark by this point, a single lamp on the desk glowing over an open book; the light of the day outside was virtually nonexistent as the wind shadowed over it. All combined to give the Kazekage a troubled, bleak expression as he stood in consideration for no more than a few seconds.

"We captured someone a few days days ago." He slowly began with a cautious gaze. "He was in front of the school spouting nonsense. Originally we were merely going to assign him to the mental ward at the hospital; but then he threatened us with annihilation by demons."

"Demons?" Kushina asked, a hand subconsciously drifting over her stomach where the seal that held hers used to be. Rasa nodded solemnly.

"It is very likely that it is only insane blathering. But I did not want to overlook any potential lead on our Jinchuriki." He explained, walking over to the other side of the desk and retrieving a small, red box from a hidden drawer. Upon attaching this on his belt hidden under his shirt, he walked out the door while motioning for them to follow. While proceeding down the hall he continued, "Our intelligence officers have worked on interrogating him, but he has proven resilient to a surprising capacity. We have learned nothing."

"So you sent for us?" Minato asked with a raised brow. "I know a few truth-telling seals, but if you weren't able to find anything out I'm not sure how well they'll work." Kushina glanced to her husband and smiled nearly disbelievingly. He was always too humble for his own good. Odds were he could improvise something should his already known devices prove to be ineffective.

Rasa led them further on down the hall, and down the flight of stairs they had taken up; from there, down another corridor nearly identical to the first, albeit one where every door was guarded by two flak-jacket clad shinobi or more. Finally they arrived at an entrance guarded by two large, grey doors flanked on both sides by shinobi. The Kazekage approached and motioned with a hand for them to allow them entry. One of them bowed and turned to push open the door, as he placed his hand on the golden handle.

They entered, squinting their eyes through the blackened haze to see those who dwelt within. It was not a dungeon, at least not in the actual sense, although its use was similar enough to be mistaken. Two men dressed like their Suna counterparts stood on either side of the pillar of brightness created by their opening of the doors, one faced away the other turned to look at them over his shoulder. And there on the other side, entirely illuminated, was a ragged man. He wore worn, ripped green pants and nothing more, and his body was thin yet its musculature was undeniable. His square-jawed face was lined with whiskers and he looked at them with dark brown eyes from under an entirely shaven scalp.

Kushina glanced towards Rasa, with a curious quirk of her brow; and he, without looking towards her, answered her unspoken query, "He was dressed that way when we found him."

"What do you know of the Jinchuriki?" Minato asked simply, bending on a knee to face evenly with the captured man; whose arms were spread and locked to the walls by braces of sand, whose waist was bound similarly.

"The Jinchuriki; I've already told you I ain't telling you nothing." He replied in an angry hiss, bloodshot eyes staring directly into Minato's. "Kill me. Nothing's gonna' change what happens to you."

"What happens?" He repeated with a frown. "Will you tell me what that is?" His voice was mellow, calm, and almost kind; but rather than respond with words the man simply spat at his feet. Minato looked down at the insulting motion, but rather than become angry he simply sighed and stood.

"Just asking questions won't work." The guard to the right explained with narrowed eyes at the prisoner. "We've done everything; wounded him, drugged him... Nothing works." Minato nodded, still staring at the man. Rasa had told them something of the sort just moments before, so Minato had expected difficulty. For another few moments he stood quietly, only the heavy breathing of their prisoner filling the small interrogation chamber. Then, suddenly, he placed his index finger on the man's forehead and performed a quick series of hand seals with his free hand.

Markings emerged. They spread from the point of his finger all over the captive's head, wrapping him like a chain around his brain. Whatever glint of life remained in his eyes faded, and his jaw dropped as his body went numb and limp. Once more Minato knelt next to him, and his voice was startlingly cold. "What do you know?"

"He has them. Orochimaru has them." Even for each of their long years as shinobi, all of their blood ran cold at the mere mention of the legendary Sannin; but while Rasa grimaced and Kushina clenched her teeth, Minato remained the calmest of them all.

"Who?" He pressed in that same calm, yet commanding voice from before, not wavering even once Orochimaru's name had been said. "Who does Orochimaru have?"

"The Jinchuriki." Replied their prisoner in a strained mumbled.

"Naruto!" Kushina snapped, both worry and anger in her voice. Neither of them had been present when the snake was pursued out of Konoha, the result of a failed assassination attempt that Hiruzen himself was unable to accomplish. Yet they knew full well what Orochimaru had done. The experiments he had performed on very much alive subjects. Kushina felt sick, only knowing that Naruto was in the hands of a monster like that.

"Where is he?!" There was a sense of urgency in his voice now, mixed with fear and a touch of raw rage. "Orochimaru; where is he hiding?!" Upon this question the man remained quiet, staring blankly at Minato, who scowled and removed his finger; thus also canceling his seal. Immediately their captive's head collapsed forward and some control returned to his body, and he gasped and wheezed as sweat formed over his forehead. Sighing heavily and with a thoughtful look in his eyes, the former Hokage turned to the others. "At least we know something." He said with a tone that argued little hope.

They vacated the chamber, leaving behind one of the guards to watch out their prisoner, and proceeded down the hall. "I'd like to take him to Konoha, with your permission, Lord Kazekage. We have specialists there who may be able to get more out of him; and I think the Hokage would also like to hear what he has to say." If anything could be said about Rasa's hesitance to answer, it was only that he took a short while to mull over allowing an individual captured in his village to be transferred to another; one which they weren't allied to.

"Very well." He finally said with a logical air, "But you will be accompanied by a four man cell until you are safely within Konohagakure's sphere. I do not doubt your strengths, either of you, but just as much I will not take the chance that your charge may escape. Locating and recovering my son is a necessity if Sunagakure is to remain a world power." As he spoke he waved his hand at the guard who had left with them, and he bowed and ran off to fetch their newly assigned guardians. "I trust you can convince your Kage to allow them safe passage, despite our two villages being neu-"

He was interrupted when the walls shuddered and the floor shook beneath their feet. There was a loud noise, roaring from back down the hall; from where they had come. As quickly as they could they ran back down to the interrogation chamber, finding the large, heavy doors blown outward and new found light invading in from the freshly created, gaping hole in the far wall. Where once there was a bound and exhausted man, now there was nothing. Kushina made for the collapse while Minato darted to the shinobi slammed against the wall in a bloody heap. "He's getting away!" She told them in shocked disbelief. How could a man who had for all appearance been a hopeless mess suddenly gained the strength to escape?!

Gently handing over the grimacing, wounded shinobi over to the two other guards who arrived, Minato joined Kushina by the hole; hand on the crumbling side, he peered out and saw the shadow of a silhouette leaping over the wall, nearly hidden by the rushing wind and hailing sand. "I'll head him off," He explained quickly while retrieving a triple-bladed kunai from a band along his belt, "try to lure him back to you."

"I'm gonna' kick that punk's hindquarters!" Kushina growled darkly, just before she leaped off the building, down the few stories to the surface, and chased off after the fleeing man.

"I will send out an alert that he is to be captured alive." Said the Kazekage with a grim frown; which by that point may as well have been his default expression. "However, I cannot guarantee it will be received in time. You had best be swift." Minato gave a nod, and threw his blade out over the wall and against a building on the other side; and then without another second between he had vanished. Rasa needn't have advised him to use speed. The Yellow Flash was famous for it.

While Minato ran and jumped and teleported across the rooftops, Kushina ran below. At first she thought their target had already gone well beyond her view, the sandstorm's gradual seeping into the village walls aiding in his escape. A strong gust of wind flew down through the street, knocking over an awning protected table and all the fruits and berries on it; and finally she realized the storm had worked in their favor. The debris, not deadly on its own, slammed through the crowd in front of her; and revealed, running down the lane, the very man she was hunting.

As soon as she laid eyes on his back, she pushed herself harder. And as she did so, she ran faster. In a full-on sprint she began to close the distance between them, but before getting too close he suddenly slipped between the buildings on the side, taking a side-road. She chased after, as they both ran through the maze of alleys and backstreets; until she came almost within tackling distance of her prey. Instead, she smiled, slapped her palms together, and grunted as four golden chains emerged from around her. These shot around the man who skidded to a stop, and they connected with four points on the two building at either side before joining together in the middle; and a nearly invisible barrier appeared in front of the man.

Minato was not the only one who could use barriers efficiently in the heat of the moment.

Instead of charging headlong into the wall, and rather than turning to engage Kushina, the escapee chose instead to scale the wall next to him. "You're not getting away that easily!" Kushina warned in the same instant that more chains were created and thrust at him for the purpose of bashing him back to the ground. He jumped off the wall to evade these, and in the same motion flipped himself over the barrier, landed with a roll, and turned off down the street. The chains dissipated at a mental command, allowing Kushina through to follow after.

She rounded the corner, and only a short distance off, saw two Suna shinobi attempt to apprehend him. One reached to grab, but his arm was snatched by the wrist and the criminal smashed a palm into his extended elbow, breaking it with a terrible crack accompanied by a pained scream. Then the other lunged at him with a dagger, only to be slammed into when the man threw the wounded shinobi into him; and the blade flew out of his hand and flipped through the air. Quickly, without ceasing his turn, he released the downed soldier, yanked the kunai out of the air, and threw it straight at Kushina.

For half a second the accuracy and efficiency he performed caught her unawares, as the dagger he'd thrown aimed straight between her eyes without him having taken more than a moment to measure. She dodged to the right, a mere bob of her head to evade the piercing steel of the weapon, as her hands came together and she inhaled. The wind was much stronger on the main road than it was in the tight side street, and it blew her hair all about; but contrary to her earlier behavior she instead grinned. _'Wind Release; Cyclone!'_ She mentally called whilst blowing a severe gust of wind out her mouth.

It joined with nature's own force, amplifying it to the point that it created a truly massive tornado that rampaged towards the escapee; seemingly miraculously yet entirely by intent ignoring everything in between. He jumped away, skidding back on his heels while clasping his hands together as well. Kushina gasped. _'Fire Release; Great Fireball!'_

Much like Kushina had, he exhaled; but instead of strong wind there emerged a ball of hot, bright fire that grew in size 'till it dwarfed all humans nearby. The two forced collided against each other, merging into a brilliantly burning cyclone of power that lit through the gradually increasing veil of sand. Kushina winced and allowed herself to be blown backwards by the resulting explosion, so as to avoid the damage unavoidably caused by standing so close to such a blast, and finally stopped with a hand on the ground. Her opponent, however, was engulfed by the blast. She narrowed her eyes through the dust and periodic, small fires; but her foe was gone once more.

"Kushina!" She heard, looking up towards the rooftops above to see Minato standing with one hand cupped to the side of his mouth and the other pointed off in the distance. He was across the lane, up ahead at an intersection where the road separated into two like a T. As she darted in the direction he indicated, Minato ran to the ledge and threw his kunai down at the fleeing individual. He wasn't too far; it caught up to him in no time at all and passed right by his cheek. Before it hit the ground Minato appeared in the air, holding it tightly. Yet he was surprised when their eyes met, and Minato saw an unwavering calmness.

He had been expecting it.

The Yellow Flash stretched out his palm, eager to place his mark on him as soon as possible. His seal; the one that allowed him to teleport to any point he had placed it. If he managed to do that this fight would be over. The convict fled back, putting distance between them as Minato caught his fall to the ground with a palm placed on the harsh sand. They were wincing now as the floating sand threatened to intrude upon their eyes, the shinobi on the walls unable to continue to efficiently hold off the weather as it pounded their defenses like a battle-hardened army.

Chains flew around Minato's crouched form aimed at flanking and enveloping the man, as Kushina slid to a stop right behind her husband. The attack missed its mark when he jumped backwards away from the assaulting adamantine creations; Minato covered, tossing his kunai again just as the other's feet left the ground. Seeing also this attempt their opponent forced himself to the side, just out of range when Minato appeared as predicted. Minato frowned, as he came to a conclusion. _'This man... He knows how my Flying Thunder God works. Well, I guess that's not really a surprise. I did use it often enough during the last war. But...'_

The prisoner scowled deeply and lunged to the side, narrowly avoiding an arc of high-pressure wind sent slicing towards his face. Baki, with a fierce glare leveled at him, struck at him with his technique like it was a sword on his hand, and multiple times contact was almost made. Arriving with the Jonin were several Sunagakure Shinobi armed with kunai and giant fans and swords. But not once did he seem overwhelmed or scared, or even remotely startled. Instead he remained with a determined scowl, dodging away from Baki's strikes in swift movements that matched his own.

Kushina spawned more chains that launched themselves at him; he noticed them with a glance over his shoulder. In the same action as he pulled his head away from an uppercut from Baki's wind-blade, he also took to the air in a backwards flip that saw him land in between Kushina's chains. The sand Jonin was forced to cease his relentless assault by Kushina's unbreakable cables, and for a moment the felon was given a break; but before he or anyone else could take advantage of that, his eyes snapped wide as a shocking realization revealed itself. Minato had disappeared.

There was no time to react. The Yellow Flash had made his move, reemerging in a flash behind him while shoving a palm into his bare back. "It was when I dodged you the first time." The criminal guessed, eyeing the spot under Minato's heel, where the faint outlines of kanji could be seen written in the sand. It had been his plan from the beginning; he left his mark behind when he stopped his fall, use predictable frontal attacks to distract from that, while Kushina lured him right back to that spot. Minato removed his hand, revealing a newly created seal inked over his muscle.

"Right." Minato confirmed in a low tone, holding a kunai across his neck. "It's over. You've lost." In that moment of triumph, a still quiet filled the air between them all; among the whistling and howling of the wind. They all felt the tension, the unspoken intent that a single motion would get him killed. The heaviness lifted however, when Minato closed his eyes and sighed, and returned the kunai to his pouch. "That's what I'd like to say, at least."

"What do you mean?" Baki asked with narrowed eyes, fist clenched at his sides. Although the straining aura brought on by Minato's energy had waned, still they all felt unease.

"I mean..." Minato started, turning on his heel and walking casually away from the still man. "...that's just a clone." Resounding gasps and exclamations of shock and surprise came from the group of Sunagakure shinobi, Baki's frown deepened, and Kushina growled angrily while she allowed her chains to disappear. "I should have detected it. You used the blast from your fire jutsu to briefly leave my sight. At the same time, you created a clone and had him run away from Kushina; while the real one hid in the shadows and waited."

"Sorry for the inconvenience." The clone replied with a faint smile. Then, with a wave and a tilt of his head, "See ya'." Just like that, he vanished in a body-sized blast of white smoke.

"Where is now?!" Kushina asked with an enraged scowl; Minato shut his eyes and huffed slowly and deeply, attempting to detect whatever signature the man's chakra would give off while he escaped. He was particularly adept at it, as he was with most things ninjutsu related, but it was a difficult attempt even for him, to sift through the varying auras and pick out the precise one he was looking for. In the end he was able to find it, but found that it was already well beyond the natural walls of Sunagakure.

"He's gone." Minato regretfully informed them with a faint frown. "We can't find him. The storm will cover his escape."

"How did he escape?" Asked the half-masked Jonin, who somehow managed to avoid the wind blowing the cloth over his face away despite making no apparent effort at doing so. "I have men stationed all along the wall holding off the storm."

Kushina ticked her tongue and crossed her arms over her chest. "Transformed?" She said in an angry growl, clearly discomforted over the upset they had taken to their until recently improving progress. "Doesn't matter; that creep's gone now, y'know? But, who was he? Did we ever get a name?"

Minato brought a hand to his chin in solemn thought, shaking his head side-to-side. "No. I was too preoccupied with where Orochimaru was, I forgot to confirm his identity." As it was, knowing his name would not have changed anything much in any normal situation, as he could simply use a different identity to cover his own tracks. What was more troubling was that they failed to discover where he would go. That as soon as he vanished within the whipping gusts of wind, so too did he disappear into the world at large. But soon another puzzling mystery rose to prominence on their minds. The storm, which had only strengthened around the village up 'till the escape, suddenly lost its power and faded into nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Although it could have been a coincidence, still it made them all raise a brow.

* * *

><p>Miles away from the twisting dunes, long beyond the line where barren wasteland met bustling forest, far past Konohagakure's territory, the thick woodland that stretched across the north eastern portion of the world and lined the coasts; in the shadows of sky-high, sturdy trees stood Obito Uchiha. He scanned the distant, green colored horizon of the deep woods, with the stone stairway of Otogakure right under his heel. His black hair swayed in the wind over his orange, swirling mask as he waited in that spot, silent and without moving save for the steady rise and fall of his breathing.<p>

"Welcome back." He greeted quietly all of a sudden, just before the shirtless prisoner from Sunagakure emerged from behind the foliage. His expression was grim but his body untouched. "I trust your mission was a success?"

He nodded, standing just in front of Obito with his hands on his hips. "Yep. They've been baited. Right now they're hating you-know-who more than you."

"And you managed to avoid any indicators of your true identity?" The Uchiha asked with a tilt of his head. At this question the former-prisoner laughed and scratched at his forehead with his finger, looking somewhat to the side.

"Well, uh... I may have used a technique or two, but... Yeah?" While he spoke his body was briefly engulfed in small smokescreen; when it had cleared he stood as an entirely different man. He had short black hair that was shaggy in all respects, piercing Onyx colored eyes, fair skin and a broad chin. He wore a black short sleeved shirt with a large collar, black pants wrapped by bandages at the ankles, sandals on his feet, and a short sword on his back strapped to a thick, brown harness. "Cut me some slack! I'm fast, but not enough to out speed Minato."

"I didn't think you would be." Obito remarked with a chuckle. "You seem to have survived the encounter nonetheless. I trust you were not followed?"

"Nope." He answered confidently, evidently entirely certain he had lost all pursuers.

"Good. You've been gone a while. You must be tired. Do your best to relax for the next few days. I want you at full strength for when I'll need your help once more." He gave a relieved sigh while a smile tugged at his cheeks, as he walked past Obito and down into the proverbial layer of the beast without giving another word in edgewise. There was no eagerness at all for ruining any free time given in favor of idle bantering. However, Obito turned to look over his shoulder at the retreating form, and said his one, final piece.

"You've done well, Shisui."

Shisui Uchiha stopped and flashed a cheeky grin. "Did you expect anything less?"


	5. Chapter 5

Dragon Country - Thanks for the review! I had thought about keeping Minato as Hokage, but I believed that it wouldn't have been something he would have done.

EndlessChains - Thanks for the review! It felt a little necessary to show a little glimmer of what those two were doing. Leaving them out of the story altogether until a later time would not have allowed anyone to really connect with what they've been going through when they finally reemerged. This way ya'll have an idea, at least. It was fun to write as well!

Lord-of-Change - Thanks for the review!

* * *

><p><em>"Orochimaru?" Asked a young Obito Uchiha, who stared with open curiosity through orange goggles up at Minato Namikaze. His ruffled black hair was held up in shaggy spikes by his Konoha headband, which folded all around his head. He wore blue sweats with an orange collar. Their blond teacher, Minato nodded, himself wearing the full Konohagakure shinobi gear, sitting on the building's thin, metal rail with his arms folded over his chest and a narrow frown on his face. "Who's that?"<em>

_"Well..." Minato started, gazing off the side of the structure they sat atop, down at the bustling streets below. The sky lit up by the sun in full noon, they were shaded by an overhanging, dark red canopy. He scratched at his cheek, before smiling slowly at him. "You remember Jiraiya, right? Well, Orochimaru was his team mate under the Third Hokage, a long time ago." A nod by the young Uchiha showed he understood, although Minato struggled not to remark how sad it was Obito had never heard of a hero of the Second Shinobi World War. He winced, however. Kakashi was not so delicate._

_"Didn't you pay attention in history, idiot?" Kakashi taunted in his matter-of-fact way. He wore a dark blue short sleeved shirt and pants, a shade darker than Obito's own, as well as a mask covering the bottom half of his face; and his silver hair stuck straight up in the air in a crazy, gravity defying spiky getup. A genius in all regards, there was every reason for Kakashi to criticize his comparatively low-grade team mate, yet still Minato sighed._

_"What was that jerkface?!" Obito growled with a clenched fist and twitching brow, nearly coming face-to-face with Kakashi._

_"Knock it off, both of you!" Rin, the only girl of their team, shouted over them. Her straight, bun cut hair rustled against her purple marked cheeks, and she squeezed the corners of her light pink skirted apron, which was over a black top and pants._

_"A-anyways," Minato interrupted their fight while fighting off a laugh, giving them first an amused smile followed by a serious stare; one, essentially, telling them to shut up and listen. "Orochimaru is a powerful man. There's a lot of people who say he's going to be the next Hokage. But he's... different. He's going to be taking overall command of this mission, but I want all of you to be on your guard." He frowned, staring at each of them in turn directly into the eyes, and finished in a low voice. "But most of all, do not, under any circumstances, trust that man."_

* * *

><p>Chapter V<p>

The Fangs

Life in Otogakure was... Different. It was easy to get lost in the maze of hallways and passages, doorways, chambers, and chasms that seemed to go on for ever and ever, until your feet were sore from walking from one destination to the other. There were no maps, minimal light, and always there seemed to be someone peeking out at you from around the next corner, only disappearing once you came close enough to see it in well enough detail to be revealed that it was merely the shadows. The food was... Well, it was good enough to eat but not enough to enjoy.

And yet, after several months, Naruto honestly felt like it was growing on him. Eventually he became accustomed to stalking the hallways, memorizing their twists and turns until he had them pictured like he had the back of his hand. No longer did he get lost trying to find the training room. No longer did he lose his way while searching out what may as well have been the cafeteria. No longer did he settle for an isolated corner when it took far too long to find a bathroom. It only took getting lost fifty times or more; but now he could recognize the tunnels and the subtle shifts in light.

It was home, and that was more than he could say for the one-night camping grounds he and Obito and Tobi often stayed at through the night.

What did earn Naruto's complaint was that Gaara learned the ways of the underground fortress far faster than the blond himself did. It was only a week or so, and he had seemed to fully grasp every inch of that complex, traversing the labyrinth like he was the proverbial Minotaur himself. Not once did he ever mention getting lost, and always he seemed to know where he was going. In regards to Naruto, who, while having a good understanding of it and normally knowing where he was going, still managed to get lost periodically. As he was now.

"Can't find the pot." Naruto grumbled with his hands in his pockets, scowling deeply as he walked down a narrow hall to where he thought the bathrooms were supposed to be. "You can remember where the training courtyard is. The armory. The laboratory for Kami's sake! But you can't find the blasted pot. Naruto, you are an idiot." He sighed and kicked at an invisible pebble on the floor. There was a corner not too far ahead of him, and he resolved to take that and, if there was no bathroom to be seen, he would just drop it right there and then. But as he approached, he heard footsteps slowly making their way towards him; and when he turned it, he came face to face with... "Gaara!" He exclaimed with a relieved grin. "Thank Kami. Remind me where th-"

"No time." His redheaded friend interrupted sternly. "Tobi needs us to go to the main hall immediately." Tobi; Not too long ago Obito had decided to go by that name. He had no desire to be called Madara, and going by his real name would raise too many eyebrows; so, much to the exasperation of their crazy uncle of sorts, he stole Tobi's name as his own. Opening his mouth for a second to persist, but quickly throwing away the question with a sigh upon losing the following staring contest with Gaara's perpetually open eyes, Naruto resigned to his fate and silently agreed to ask again later.

After a quick walk, they arrived in that same darkened chamber in short order; the one they were led to on their first day there, after the tussle with the Sound Four. It was as difficult to see within as ever; the two squinted when they stepped through the low-hanging squared entry. It was no wonder Orochimaru was always so pale; surrounded by nothing but darkness for most of the day, it was a wonder he hadn't already gone blind.

"What's up?" Naruto asked after they passed the first row of pillars, arms raised outward and his hands held against the back of his head. Their masked master stood silently by Orochimaru's throne and wordlessly greeted them with a blank stare, and they noticed immediately that white snake himself was not present. Only after they stopped in front of him did he speak.

"I have a mission for you two." He said in his usual strong voice.

"Hai!" Suddenly interrupted another! Naruto and Gaara snapped to see, while Obito sighed and clasped his mask tightly. Tobi stood atop one of the many snake statues that guarded the walls with their fierce, stony faces, and he waved his hands all about as he wobbled on one foot. It appeared that he would fall shortly, although he never did, quickly regaining his balance and falling to sit his bottom directly over the serpent's narrowed, slit eyes. "Mister Oreo's got a super fun job for you to do! Tobi'll come too to..." He suddenly brought a hand over his eyes, and looked back and forth as if he were scanning for some unseen entity. "...keep an EYE on things!"

"No, Guru, you're not going." Replied the exasperated Uchiha with a clear tick of annoyance. He pouted so obviously, with deeply sunken shoulders and a chin held down to his chest, that Obito sighed again. "I need you here to watch over... the base." Naruto and Gaara exchanged glances at Obito's hesitation; the former surprised there was such a reaction and the latter worried it would destroy the chances of convincing Tobi.

"Fiiiiine." Whined the white creature with a sudden perk of his form. "Tobi'll just keep an EYE on things here!"

"Very good." He replied, relieved, with a nod, before turning back to the two boys. "Because of our agreement, unfortunately we are forced to aid Orochimaru in all his petty and twisted agendas. Apparently one of his secret bases in the Land of Frost has become endangered. I was not given the details, but he wants it protected. His little gang of miscreants has already departed, but I'm sending you two to support them. But be warned," His single eye stared deeply at Naruto, who quirked a brow, "the silent one, Kimimaro; he and the rest are in full command of this operation. You are to do whatever they say, as long as their instructions are not deliberately made with the intent of causing you harm. Understood?"

"Hai." They both replied immediately, straight faced and straight postured. Obito nodded and smiled behind his mask.

"You leave within the hour, at your leisure. Remember all I have taught you. Stay together, do not drop your guard, do not show your face, and stay swift as you are vigilant." They were all rules that had already been ingrained into them, yet still neither of them could help but smile at the almost fatherly advice that Obito insisted on reminding them of. "Dismissed."

They turned to leave out the way they came, progressing down the hall at a steady trot. However, suddenly, Naruto let out a whimper and grasped Gaara by the shoulder. "Where is the damned bathroom?!"

* * *

><p>Preparation for their journey was swift; once Gaara had reminded Naruto of where he could relieve his swollen bladder. Their tools were placed securely in pouches, their hooded, grey cloaks were free of any splotches or markings that could possible reveal them once in hiding. Gaara managed to find a detailed map of the Land of Frost and brought that along, mainly so Naruto wouldn't get them lost while insisting he knew the way. Small foodstuffs were accounted for, as were water containers and first aid supplies. Once they ensured they were all stocked and ready to go, an action that took no more than ten minutes at max and three at minimum, they headed off.<p>

The Sound Five had already left, and had a few days lead owing to that Orochimaru had only informed Obito of the mission earlier that day, so Naruto and Gaara had some catching up to do. Despite this, they were in no particular rush, and casually took the main road through the forest, sporadically interrupted by patterned ponds and lakes. Patterned, because most were separated by little naturally formed dams that crisscrossed through them like the spots on a lady bug; or the scales of a snake. Whatever it represented was of no interest to the two, and they continued on without so much of a glance down at their reflections in the water.

They crossed through the Land of Sound's border and into the Land of Hot Water, which consisted of a large forest much like the previous country and the Land of Fire. For all pretenses it was one and the same, interrupted only by the politically assigned barriers the countries had established for themselves; of which the Land of Fire had done more in consideration. Being one of the Five Great Nations did not come without its perks, and the Land of Fire had been thus far adept at flaunting its privileges, particularly during the massive conflicts that had occurred over the previous years. Peace treaties - a way for the strong to enforce their will over the weak and make it seem legitimate.

At least, that's how Obito put it.

Whether or not that was true was little consequence when brought to the attention of the two boys who traversed the wilds, once the location of multiple battles between Konoha and the northern Kumogakure. As the years wore on the landscape torn asunder by powerful, nature-bending techniques and savage explosions, life began to return to normal; however as a result the wilderness now remained bitter and untamed save for scant few hot springs here or there, and the former shinobi village of Yugakure; which had since adopted a far more pacifist outlook following the war and had decreased in size.

But the road stretched through the land with only a small amount of difficulty, twisting and turning through the strong trees and only occasionally being thinned by overgrown bushes, eager to spread beyond the confines the inventions of humanity had assigned to them. It was a long and quiet path, and Naruto and Gaara walked it without disturbing that peace. Although once in a while Naruto commented on how it felt like the birds were glaring at them.

Eventually they crossed the unseen boundary of the country, moving out of one and into the other. At first there was no indication at all of any difference, Hot Water and Frost being almost identical in climate and scenery for several miles. But the change was there, and became apparent after some time. The road climbed steadily upwards as the land rose in altitude, and the forest shrank smaller and shorter until it was but tall grass on either side. From this it changed further, rising up into small hills and cliffs, where the wind blew constantly chilly against their faces. That, of course, was the origin of the name; for the wind was frostily cold, and should it have been a storm there would have been a strong out pour of ice and sleet.

It was in this land that they arrived at a small town, both glancing towards each other and nodding once they detected the faint chakra signatures of their begrudging comrades.

The buildings were small and designed of a thick, dark bark, much like woodland cabins with square frames and slanted roofs. A crossroad was in the middle, active with a meager amount of villagers dressed in worn but cozy, thick clothes. The four roads that fled from that square center were flanked by the buildings described before, some being tiny one-story structures on the outskirts, but those in the middle broader, taller, and marked with signs of businesses. One of these they entered; a rusty looking place with a half-collapsed picture sign hanging loosely against the front wall by a shredded rope.

Ignoring whatever name the establishment went by, they stepped under the open doorway into a silent parlor, dotted with empty booths and tables. A woman wearing an apron, with brown hair tied into a bun and a freckled face, greeted them with a smile. "Welcome! How may I help you?" She said with a subtle, questioning slant of her brow, surprised at the age of the two boys who had entered. There was no age limit for alcoholic beverages in the shinobi world, so she would not refuse them service, but still they were far younger than her usual clientele.

"Is there a group of five staying here, currently?" Gaara asked in a dry voice, staring at her in his normally stoic, unblinking way; both of them noticed the slight tremble that struggled up her back, but chose to ignore it. It had become something of a standard with newly met civilians; Gaara simply freaked them out.

In spite of her urge to shy away, she nodded and answered friendly enough. "Yes, they're taking up both of our rooms. Are you with them?" He nodded, and she motioned towards a hallway on the rightmost far side of the room that led down a brightly lit corridor. "They're right down there. The door on the left is the facilities, the two on the right are the bedrooms."

"Thank you." He replied before they made towards the hall in question. Like the rest of the room, the hallway had a purplish carpet for a floor and was painted a dark red. Two brown doors were on one side, and another was on the other, and at the far end was a similar door that was no doubt the owner's room. Naruto knocked noisily on the closer of the two doors. There was a pause, and Naruto raised his fist to strike again, but before he could the door was suddenly thrust inward by the wooden knob. They instantly recognized the tan, six armed man who spat sticky white stuff at them on their first arrival; Kidomaru. Also in the room was Jirobo and Sakon, although Tayuya and Kimimaro weren't present.

"Oh, you're here." He said almost uninterested. "We thought you were a no-show. If you hadn't gotten here by tomorrow we'd have gone on with the mission without you."

"Hm, well..." Naruto mumbled with a smile, "...since it only took us a day to catch up with you, I'd say we made pretty good time." It took but an instant for Kidomaru to comprehend the implication. When he did, his bored expression turned to a surprised frown. Not over the speed with which they arrived, but rather over the fact that they had been purportedly waiting, relatively comfortably back at Otogakure until earlier that very morning; while the rest of them had been living in the cramped small-town rest stop for the past few days. Still, he had the perfect repayment for their inconsideration.

His face changed from disturbed frown to devious smirk, while three of his six hands pointed their thumbs towards the room next to theirs. "Whatever. We don't have any room in here so you'll have to sleep in that one. We'll go over the plan again in the morning so you two can get up to speed." Promptly the door was slammed in their faced, without them being allowed a single word in reply. For a few moments they stood still and stared at the once-open entry; then Naruto rolled his shoulders in an unconcerned manner and proceeded on to the next room in the row.

Without pause he placed his palm on the handle and turned it, never stopping to think to knock before entering. He grinned brightly as he swung the door around, but quirked a brow and nearly pouted; much to Gaara's confusion. Inside was a simple, two bed room; furnished plainly with a single lamp upon the nightstand in between the two beds aforementioned, and a single window above it, of which the blinds were drawn down to cast the room in shadowed darkness. "Odd." Naruto commented after looking about the room.

"What is?" Asked Gaara with raised eyes. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, turning to face his friend with a perturbed expression on his features, before his chuckled and reformed the smile over his lips.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it." He said in a teasing tone that hardly reassured Gaara. They unslung their bags from their shoulders and tossed them, Gaara onto one of the beds and Naruto into the corner. The blond walked to the window and pulled apart two of the many white slabs, peering out into the cold outside. The sun was going down into the evening, and already the temperature had dropped so much that a thin layer of ice had begun to form along the rooftop edges; behind the houses across the lane, in the distance, could be seen several tall mountains that rose up past the clouds, the tips beyond what the eye could see. The walls were insulated to the severe cold, yet still some seeped through and chilled their skin.

"What was that?" Gaara suddenly asked in a quiet and raspy voice, as he turned to stare at the doorway. Naruto peeked over his shoulder, a faint smirk drifting at the corner of his mouth; lightly made footsteps on the other side of the doorway, coming closer towards them with each new step taken. The former Suna child tenses and the cork of his gourd rattled as his powerful sand danced within; but Naruto merely chuckled, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back against the opposite wall.

Slowly the door opened inward, without a knock to be heard, much like how they had entered. When it was aside all the way it let through a young woman, with her light red hair hung behind her, wet and combed. It was Tayuya; and save for the peach colored towel tied around her, she was stark naked. In any normal circumstance they would have met each other with blank, ignorant stares; yet as was frequently the case, in some strange twist of hormones, puberty began early for shinobi. So rather than the only mild embarrassment that would normally be the case, instead there was something far different.

Gaara's eyes widened and the cork popped loose from his gourd, and the sand immediately wrapped itself in front of him like a fogged mirror. Naruto laughed once and adopted a lopsided grin. "This... Is more than I thought."

"M-more?!" Demanded the sand child as he stared back at Naruto in a sort of horrible realization. "You knew something like this would...?!"

"Err, not exactly?" The blond replied sheepishly, scratching at his whisker-marked cheek. "I made a guess. Didn't think she'd be... Y'know, in the nude." Suddenly, it all became crystal clear for Gaara. The eager entrance into the room, with the enthusiastic smile; followed shortly by the disappointed comment and the accompanying pout. Somehow, Naruto had suspected that the quarters would not be just their own. "Hi there." He greeted in a surprisingly cheerful way; Gaara couldn't see Tayuya's face, but still he felt the cold, deadly aura that seemed to permeate from her.

"What are you doing in my room?!" She shouted in an angry snarl, her face flushed both from her recently finished shower and also that there was nothing between her and the towel.

"Oh, just came to say hello, y'know?" Replied the foxy child, who was enjoying the interaction far more than he probably should have. Gaara groaned from behind his shield of sand, his pale face showing nothing of the blush that surely should have been there.

"Apologies for the intrusion." He growled deeply with a clenched fist, while throwing another angry glance at Naruto; who shrugged in a nonchalant fashion and widened his grin. "Kidomaru informed us that the other bedroom was too full; he led us to believe that this one was empty, and for ours to use."

"Kidomaru did?" Tayuya asked with a blink, her angered expression faltering for the minutest of seconds before it was renewed with a passion. "That lying, cowardly, disgusting freak!" She screamed, and her eyes glowed vividly with the rage flowing through her veins. Naruto didn't care altogether, but Gaara for one was thankful that her hatred had shifted away from them and onto the six-armed hooligan who had guided them there. For a moment it seemed her hair had begun to float and whip around like a hurricane, but before they could confirm that she huffed and bit at her lip. "Just... Turn around so I can get some clothes. If you peek, so help me, I will rip your useless throats out!"

Naruto and Gaara exchanged a look, as they frequently did when anything unexpected crossed their path; but with an accepting shrug from the one and a thoughtful scowl from the other, Gaara extended his sand to block the view between them, allowing Tayuya space to change. He very nearly pounded his own face into the sand out of disbelieving embarrassment, when Naruto attempted in vain to peek up over the line created, standing on the tips of his toes and lifting his chin upwards to gain whatever small amount of height he could.

Soon enough, after several awkward seconds of hearing different pieces of clothing being hastily pulled on, there was a clearing of her throat and a loud thud against Gaara's sand, as Tayuya tossed one of their bags at it in some signal that she was done. Of course that alone was not enough to ease his caution, and still he suspected that she might lash out at them; thus, instead of lowering his wall altogether, Gaara instead created a small hole through which he could carefully see. She was dressed as it turned out, in the same garb as the rest of the Sound Five, sported cap over her hair and arms crossed over her chest in an agitated manner.

Sighing softly, he allowed the barrier to fall and return to his gourd, the last few grains reaching down and retrieving the cork from the floor and returning it to the hole. Although he himself remained passively indifferent, Naruto immediately stuck his lip out in an obvious pout. "Aw man." He muttered in a disappointed way, ignoring the blank stare from the one and the murderous glare from the other. "So..." Naruto huffed as he bent over and grabbed his bag off the floor, replacing it on the bed next to Gaara's, "...we'll be sharing a room, I guess?"

Tayuya grunted and looked off to the side, face scrunched up together in a combination of anger and embarrassment; but no amount of disgust. She had lived around the other members of the Sound Five long enough to not be overly impacted by male's presence. She knew, also, that refusing their presence would be met with dismissal and that they would inevitably stay anyways, thus there was no point in attempting to boot them out before they got too comfortable.

"Fine." She grumbled in a deep frown and tapping her foot once or twice on the padded floor. "But this side's mine." The words came alongside her stepping over to the left side of the room, and she waved her hand around in some sort of emphasis that _that_ particular area was what she referred. Then, she nodded towards the other side, the one where their bags were. "That's yours. Hope you two are good with sleeping in the same bed."

That last bit she said in a nonchalant, nearly uncaring tone, that completely betrayed her false hope.

"It won't be a problem." Assured the gourd-holding child in a dull voice, completely missing the attempted sarcasm Tayuya used. "I will rest on the floor." The willingness with which Gaara offered himself up to lying across the carpet surprised Tayuya, and she quirked a brow at Naruto in question, to which he shrugged silently in reply. Scoffing, and scowling in a disinterested manner, she sat upon the edge of her self-assigned bed. The comforters were thick and fluffy, dotted with greenish squares; perfect for the cold weather around them that, as the evening wore on, crept further into the rooms.

The awkward silence persisted on, far into the night until each of them eventually drifted off into sleep; with Tayuya and Naruto on either of the two beds, and Gaara who slumped up against the far corner, his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his chest, and his gourd against the wall next to him. Tayuya never knew when she fell asleep, nor when the others had either, but it wasn't long after when her rest was interrupted. She gasped and shot up out of her covers, but found herself unable to speak, a hand clasped over her mouth.

Her eyes, wide with surprise, narrowed and hardened in fierce rage. Sakon stood over her, an idle smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. Not once had she heard any sound indicative of his entering; realization dawned on her that she had, foolishly, allowed herself to sleep so soundly while among a small company who she trusted no more than she trusted a complete stranger. Still her agitation towards Sakon outweighed the self-imposed criticism. She snatched his wrist and roughly pulled his hand away, and spoke in a harsh whisper. "What'd you want birdbrain?"

"Kimimaro wants to see us." Came his cool reply as he yanked his arm out of her grasp. There was a spark, like a flash through his eyes, that told her he was entirely serious; and that there was no room to argue. Tayuya huffed and gave a quick nod, and pulled herself free from the covers. Sakon walked back out through the open door and she followed, casting a hesitant glance towards the other two, before softly closing the door behind her. Silently they crossed the diner, Tayuya noted that the others had already left their room, and out into the icy cold air outside.

Their breaths puffed out in white clouds and Tayuya immediately clasped her hands together, the chill's striking onslaught evoking goosebumps all over her skin. Being in her bare feet didn't help matters.

Sakon led her up onto the rooftop, where three silhouettes waited for them. She recognized them each by visage alone, for it wasn't altogether difficult to know which was which. The large one was Jirobo, the one with the thick bundles by his sides was Kidomaru, and the tall one was Kimimaro. An overcast cloud cover had rolled in from the northern coast, blackening the sky against the moon's light and creating a void of fearful darkness all around. Soon they joined the huddle the rest of her group had formed; and Tayuya became all too aware that she was the only one evidently affected by the cold.

By that time the little town had fallen so quiet in the midnight slumber that even their most silent whispers still seemed to echo down the streets as if they had been shouted, such that no matter of secrecy could be safely discussed even atop the building on which they stood. Yet despite that, still Kimimaro began on a subject that should have been only started once they could truly speak on it in complete isolation.

"Tomorrow, we will be scouting the area around Lord Orochimaru's base once more." He said in an even tone that matched the weather in its icy way. "They can't be more than bandits. I do not wish to take any chances, however. We will gather a full understanding of our enemies' locations, movements, equipment, and strategic points before proceeding with the operation. We will allow our two additions to have the same information as us." His green eyes flashed as he glanced to each, expression monotonous yet leaving no doubt towards his authority all the same. Tayuya nodded; the message was clear. But her partners seemed to forget who was in charge.

"Why should we?" Kidomaru started with a glaring smirk, half of his fingers drumming on his other half's bicep. "We're pretty far from Otogakure, after all. I'm sure Orochimaru doesn't care and that masked bastard will never know; and if we lure them into a trap by the bandits there'll be no way for anyone to say we did it."

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes at the six-armed spider man, fixing him with a deadly gaze. "You should realize that they are more than capable of eliminating untrained combatants."

"Not if we separate and weaken them first." Sakon added carefully, casting a brief glance towards Kimimaro's hands, which hung harmlessly at his sides. There was no clear reason, but for Sakon's uneven breath, that indicated the intent of his study - but Tayuya knew well exactly what the motive was. "We'll use the flute. They'll be dead before they realize anything is out of the ordinary." She scowled faintly that the recommendation of using her ability was made without her consent, yet remained silent.

"No." Kimimaro quietly, no authority lost even with his voice toned down. "Lord Orochimaru's word is absolute. Those two are to remain untouched. I will kill whichever one of you lays a hand on them without first being given the order to do so. Am I understood?" Kidomaru and Sakon grunted in surrender, Jirobo and Tayuya watched on quietly from the side. Pleased with their response, or lack thereof, he nodded slowly and without another word stepped off the roof and fled into the surrounding darkness.

For a little while the remaining members of the Sound Four stood, unspeaking, atop that dark little building. Tayuya shifted her feet and swallowed. The intensity between them was nearly thick enough so as to be seen like brightly flashing sparks on a blanket. Subconsciously her eyes drifted to the edge, wondering whether she should leave, but before she could make good of her intent Sakon smiled. His dark, vile chuckle forced her to clench her jaw. Of course she knew what the expression meant, why he no longer assumed the fear he held when Kimimaro was present.

"The less you know..." He started, letting the sentence hang, smirking towards his companions. He didn't need to finish the statement, the message was received loud and clear, and for a moment Tayuya shuddered as the thought that Kimimaro may have heard him crossed her mind. The heel of her foot slipped just a tad on the bluish green moss on the roof, a side effect of her calves tensing and aching to run away to safety. Tayuya was no coward; but she had no interest in being drawn in to whatever game Sakon wished to play, knowing it would put her into confrontation with a man they all together had no hope of defeating.

"Blondie's a taijutsu user, the other one's ninjutsu. Neither should be genjutsu; so Tayuya's flute will be perfect." Mused Kidomaru, arms still folded over his chest. "We split them up while they're under her spell. Jirobo can lure the bandits to them; and our friends will take care of the rest."

"Perfect. It's settled then." Tayuya's scowl deepened. She had no interest in taking part in the plan, although she wished them dead just as much as her dysfunctional team. Yet Sakon and Kidomaru had already signed on it, and Jirobo nodded his agreement; so there was little point in arguing against it. They could outpower her easily, unless she was able to cast her power first.

_'It's not gonna' work anyways...'_ She thought, briefly her mind rewinding to when Naruto and Gaara had effortlessly cut through the first wave of shinobi sent against them. "Fine..." She grumbled with a hesitant huff, placing her fists at her hips. "But Blondie's mine. I owe that idiot some payback for fighting me with that smug grin." She winced. Whatever reason she had for letting them know of her desire to take revenge had since vanished from her mind, and she wished sorely to take it back. Knowing her team, and she did know them, they would never let her hear the end of it.

Her breath hitched and eyebrow twitched when they all chuckled, but released when Sakon agreed. "Sure thing. You can do whatever you like to him." His gaze hardened, and she matched it with a defiant growl. "Just don't screw up."


End file.
